I naively believed it couldn’t happen here. Not here. Not in Summit County. But it has.
The political discourse in our community has been infected by the anger, hate and vitriol which we have sadly observed nationwide. In her recent editorial, one writer complains of a County Council candidate being bullied and “canceled” on social media for her stance on Covid-19 restrictions.
I agree with that writer that bullying is unacceptable and I would ask anyone complaining about it to take a hard look at their own conduct. It was good advice 2,000 years ago and remains so today. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” We are all members of this community. We are all Utahns. We are all Americans. The strength of our nation comes from the concept embodied behind our national motto E Pluribus Unum; Out of Many, One.
Our friends and neighbors are seeking political offices which consume vast amounts of time, and pay (if anything) terribly little. They do so not to promote some imagined agenda, but to make Summit County a better place to live. They do not deserve to be demonized by those who wish to see another candidate prevail.
Sadly, we have seen Gabby Giffords and Steve Scalise shot by partisans. Just this week, Speaker Pelosi’s 80-year-old husband was assaulted in his home by someone seeking to do harm to a public servant. Civil servants from election clerks to school board members to governors and Supreme Court justices have been harassed at their homes.
Jan. 6 was an extraordinarily dark day in our history. Words, particularly those delivered with de-humanizing invective, can and have inspired the weak-minded to terrible action. This behavior cannot be normalized. It must stop. I would ask all our local candidates, and those who support them, to be better.
Challenge, yes. Debate, yes. But do so respectfully. Those people with whom you disagree have families; they may have children. I for one will be voting for a return to civility. I remain optimistic that it will prevail.
M. Alex Natt
Park City