Civil Discourse Continued

Pratt notes that civil discourse does not exist today. People are nuts or loonies or marxists or socialists or sixhirb = sexist, islamophobe, xenophobe,homophobe, intolerant, racist or bigoted (this from Dennis Prager). But, as Pratt notes, the name calling has occurred at times throughout the American experiment. So the question naturally arises, what brings about a particular bout of uncivil discourse, a period in which both left and right engage in the problem? Or is the uncivil discourse all coming from the left? It seems to be periods when disagreement about the nature and direction of the country are at stake--periods when really important issues arise. Woodrow Wilson, FDR, Obama -- are these the periods in which uncivil discourse was at its worst? If so, then it must be a playbook of the progressives -- perhaps a precursor to Alinsky's Rules for Radicals. Today I hear more about the founders and the constitution, about liberty, John Locke and Adam Smith than I have before. But I also hear about nuts, fruitcakes, loonies, witches, and so on. Perhaps someone ought to do some research on this issue.