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On Civility, Fox News and That Testy First Amendment

The great Jon Lovitz played Michael Dukakis in a Saturday for some nonexistent period in our history Night Live skit of a 1988 presidential debate with George W. Bush (played when we all got along. The hand-wringing by Dana Carvey) . Carvey bumbled and stumbled through a question on over incendiary language defies history. homelessness and still had 80 seconds remaining. He repeated , “Stay the This nation’s political discourse is not for course ” and “A thousand points of light” to run out the clock. Lovitz then the faint-hearted . Our founders were deadpanned, “I can’t believe I’m losing to this guy.” Huffington posters . John Adams called the Liberals who have been flying twice backwards around their cages Quakers “dull as beetles” and said that about Fox News—aka the root of all worldly evil —are in Lovitz mode. Thomas Paine had a “feeble” understanding Little old Fox News, with its lineup of second-tier on-air talent , has of constitutional government. From the buried the other cable news stations, as well as Katie, Brian and Diane. fiery tongue of Patrick Henry, “Give me lib - Even as a fan of Fox News, I find it stunning that this crowd is winning . erty or give me death,” to Adams’ writings, Greta Van Susteren, “Powder and artillery are the most effica - whose television career began cious, sure, and infallible conciliatory meas - on CNN because she ure we can adopt ,” we have an affinity for Civility, clothed in the thought O .J. Simpson was firing metaphors . innocent , enjoys top ratings We have not let up since . Pundits had a protective robes of the Tucson despite the fact that after 16 field day with Grover Cleveland’s assumed years of television experience illegitimate child, “Ma, Ma, Where’s my Pa? tragedy, is code for one-sided she still ends interviews with Gone to the White House, Ha, Ha, Ha!” the skillful, “Gotta go !” Sean They morphed Barry Goldwater’s “In your regulation of speech. Hannity’s show includes 15 heart, you know he’s right ,” to “In your minutes of a Great American guts, you know he’s nuts.” Panel . The GAP consists of a The meaning of the word “civil” is a group of three individuals sticky wicket. General Stanley McChrystal with an average age of 28 whose range of credentials runs from political got a lambasting and an end to his military strategist to political consultant. Freshmen who just did 10 shots have less career for telling Rolling Stone that our vapid discussions. Bill O’Reilly recently did a week’s worth of shows on commander-in-chief was “unprepared” for his pre-Super Bowl 15-minute interview with President Obama. Using his first meeting with him . But Nina everything from body-language analysis to Dennis Miller’s comedic view, Totenberg still labors in NPR’s vineyards Mr. O’Reilly took five hours of victory laps on an interview in despite her death wish for then-Senator which he allowed Mr. Obama to go unchallenged in saying that Jessie Helms : “ If there’s retributive justice, there have been no new taxes since he took office . I’ve seen less he’ll get AIDS from a transfusion or one of deference from an associate whose billable hours for the year his grandchildren will get it.” One man’s total 1 ,600. uncivil is a woman’s path to tenure . “Death With all of the flaws and weaknesses in Fox News , Mr. panels” is an incendiary term to those who Obama, Paul Krugman, Bob Schiefer and our own Pima favor universal health care but helps “the County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik obsess over it. Glenn Beck is folks” (as O’Reilly would say) to understand lucky not to be doing hard time for his chalkboard diagrams the inevitability of rationing under such a and red phone. Their problem is not Fox News or Rush system. Limbaugh —who explains that he is able to command the Jefferson advised a grandson, “When I largest radio audience in the United States with half his brain hear another express an opinion which is tied behind his back . After all, Fox News carried Sheriff not mine … [h]is error does me no injury, Dupnik’s painful rants in toto . Regulation of cable content and and shall I become a Don Quixote, to a return to the fairness doctrine have fallen flat due to justifiable bring all men by force of argument to one constitutionality hooting . Instead, now comes a swift left turn opinion?” In today’s parlance, let it rip. If Marianne M. Jennings is a Professor onto the road of civility in political discourse . you are losing to Fox News et al ., censor - of Legal and Ethical Studies at the W.P. Carey School of Business , Arizona State Civility, clothed in the protective robes of the Tucson ship via civility still will not bring men to University. She is the author of six text - tragedy, is code for one-sided regulation of speech. What can - your corner. Tyranny, however accom - books in law and ethics and has had her monographs on ethics translated into not be done legislatively or constitutionally will be attempted plished, cannot survive. Check your histo - four languages. She still has to meet AZ through presidential demands and revisionist history that pines ry on that one, too. AT State Bar CLE requirements each year.

84 ARIZONA ATTORNEY APRIL 2011 www.myazbar.org/AZAttorney