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NYT on Boehner

The New York Times leads today with an article on John Boehner, focusing on his Ohio roots. The Times can't resist but to call him a liar and present him as partisan in the opening paragraph, but the remainder of the article is generally snark-free. It also concedes that he will be the next Speaker of the House.
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I think "call him a liar" is a bit strong. At best it's implied. And even then not really.

What the New York Times writer does not appreciate is the erosion of an intangible quality of American life. It is difficult for me to articular exactly what I am trying to say ... the best I can do is to suggest there was a stronger grounding in traditional virtues such as hard work, honesty, respect and courtesy.

Now, to say that it's the Democrat's fault is not entirely fair. Are the Democrats to blame in part? Perhaps. Many factors work into it.

To my eye there is no question there is a rapidly declining practice of what we might call basic manners. I travel quite a bit for business and I see many displays of selfish behavior in airports and on the planes. It takes very little to exhibit simple courtesy, but for whatever reason -- they don't realize they're being selfish, or they do but don't care -- the trend is definitely there.

I do believe there's an awakening to this. Small signs here and there. There's a relationship to the other post here on NLT to "shame" ... there seems a growing trend to point out selfish, discourteous behavior and invite the scorn of those affected.

And no, I am not perfect ... and yes, I am capable of selfish behavior. My only defense is that I am very much aware of this and my intent is to not be.

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