We get what we give. Do your own part and good will return to you.

What is this garbage? Who wrote this? In this story it says "Now a stranger is just someone who can be torn to shreds". What do you mean about "NOW"? What does NOW have to do with anything? Have you ever been forced ride on the back of the bus? Did you ever have to drink from a different water fountain because you were black? Were you ever forced to take a job as a maid and looked down at because you were of a specific race? Were you forced to educate yourself long past grade school because you couldn't go to college yet you were determined to be competitive? Do you know what is like to be discriminated against right now because of your age and possibly sex and race? It sounds like to me that someone that wrote this had their feelings hurt and now sees the world as a different place.

This story is such a load of crap. Do not tell me that people were once civil and times have changed. It sounds like your world changed and you are seeing what many of us have seen our entire lives. Someone wrote this story from a personal perspective without considering the lack of civility that has always existed. This is offensive and should be taken down or either written by someone with a thicker skin.

Is civility really dead? How am I to gauge civility?

I dont think civility is dead..I saw a great act of civility last night in Romney exercising great civility in a major debate. @Martha- No- I have never done any of those things, but have neither taken a part in such as forcing someone to either. Just like I wasn't a part of the native Americans and all that took place then either. I also wasn't a part of the white/English/Scottish slavery debacle either. We are far far ahead and beyond such acts that took place in History. We are all working on new history, with a lot more acceptance, peace, tolerance and fairness. We would not be making strides or progressing in any of those areas, if we were still fighting and holding onto the past.

All radio stations and TV stations should be required to offer balanced perspective and different points of view. For many, many years we operated under a Fairness Doctrine in this country, and I think the country was well-served. I think the public discussion was at a higher level and more intelligent in those days than it has become since. This is known as the Fairness in Media doctrine. Now all you get are rants from the left and the right that lead to a lack of civility in the public discussion of issues.

George, I absolutely agree with you there, in part. It just shouldn't be up to a government to impose a fairness doctrine - that would always be subject to which party is in power. I don't know the answer, except that we the people need to impose our own fairness doctrine on what we are offered as unbiased reporting. We need to be able to see through the propaganda and discern what is the truth. Just none of us seem very equipped to do that anymore.

Sharon, I remember the days when reporting was just that...reporting the news. No commentary or opinion. As a matter of fact, I think those journalists would have been considered unprofessional if they interjected their opinions. The medias job was not to cover up their favorite politician and expose the ones they did not support- they were expected to be unbiases and the medias job was to vet presidents and expose wrongdoing. Now they cover it up indescriminately. One opinion enters the fray, it's no longer good journalism.

Once the genie's out of the bottle it's hard to put it back. When you see a US Congressman shout "you lie" at the President during a State Of The Union Address and hear religious leaders openly question his faith on the morning news shows it's hard not to feel that we've crossed a line that can't be uncrossed.

I experience it every day here on the Patch. Because I offer a somewhat different viewpoint I get called every name in the book. I've even had my appearance questioned. I see the same thing happen to George. People throw words around like communist and socialist without stopping to think what they're accusing their neighbor of. The other day someone here even suggested taking up arms against their neighbor if Obama gets reelected.

I blame talk radio and the cable news shows, folks like Limbaugh, Hannity and Beck for encouraging the boorish behavior that has become common place in our political discussion. Yes there are also those on the left who are guilty as well but nothing anywhere close to an equivalency.

Brian you are right, but it really does work both ways. I think everybody sees the insults directed at them much clearer than those directed the other way. There have been some really ugly things said about both presidential candidates, their wives and some of their supporters. I saw a whole bunch of tweets suggesting riots if Obama loses - in fact, it was actually calling for riots if he loses. I've also seen people referred to in very unflattering terms for their so-called "redneck" views, even on Patch. I think uncivil discourse is an equal opportunity status here on Patch as anywhere else. But always the optimist, I'm hoping that this time around, whichever way the election goes, we will at least have a year or two cooling off period before suiting up to face each other again. Maybe a pipe dream, I know, but hey, I can dream can't I?

Sorry about the break you desire, it probably won’t be much of one since the next round is the congressional races that focus on 2014 ...
The next chants will most likely be “ We must keep the house!” or “We must take the house!”.
We can’t address anything that would jeopardize the election!

It's become multi - year long "March Madness" meets WWF and the NFL.

How can people not be personally affected? To many - it's a question of taking away a woman's (often low income) right to choose the future of her body and her life. For many others - it's a question of whether or not it's ok to kill an unborn child. There's no in-between. Similar with the deficit, similar with jobs, similar with foreign relations, similar with the environment. The stakes are so high, that it is difficult for people not to become empassioned regarding their beliefs and feel that all is lost if their side does not win.

Athens mama, I certainly hope that is not an attitude in most churches. I go to a church where you can't really call it any particular type of church (ie: white church, black church etc..), when you look around, you really can't find a label, so we just don't. So, we just move to the basic foundational message and reach out to the community and help those in need. We go to jails, prisons, help people find jobs, pay their rent, teach them skills, even teach them to speak the language. We've even got a ministry to help people hwo are found living under bridges. We have people who adopt children who have been taken out of sex slavery. So, whether the election goes my way or not, is neither here nor there. Our part of the body of Christ will continues doing what we're doing.

I am always amazed as I drive down Broad Street in Winder how many people wait for others to pull out of spaces. In shopping centers the carts are returned to the areas for empty carts. I love this area, the civility is wonderful. Having white hair people are always holding doors for me. I spent most of my life in South Florida, so this to me is heaven. There are always going to be people who are just stump dump with their manners and attitude, but most people try to be decent.

I'd like to change direction here and address Sharon's comment "Gone are the days when elders are respected." It used to be that kids respected adults simply because they were taught to respect adults. Now, in certain schools where I've subbed (notice that is in past tense) I've had kids tell me, "I don't have to respect you until you earn my respect." Who's teaching them this???

Like innocent until proven guilty, maybe?

That's they way I was taught too Ryan.

Many people have jumped on Sharon here, but this IS the "opinion" section of the DaculaPatch. Sharon was just sharing her opinion, and as they say, "Opinions are like bellybuttons - everybody has one".