In reading your article, the one thing I saw in it which I find very rare these days was a genuine desire to express an opinion and to continue to show respect and to be respected. In today's America, that's almost a lost art. It's so rare that I almost did not believe what I was reading. It seems to me that in today's America, most people watch Jerry Springer to learn manners. That's not much of an exaggeration. Rudeness and arrogance seem to be the standard these days. I'm not going to call it confrontation; I'm just going to call it boorishness because that is how I see it. Especially during this last election campaign, I became totally burnt out with the bashing that went on, and even on Inauguration Day, I had to deal with rudeness in Washington, DC to the point that I felt the urge to hurl a heavy object at someone who showed absolutely no shred of decency in his behavior toward me. I had to ask myself: is this what has become of American society, that people have so totally lost all respect for one another and for themselves?


It is difficult to express differing opinions if respect cannot be shown. The trouble today is that too often insults are exchanged along with the differing opinions. During the election, insults were the norm. It was becoming so bad that I just wanted the elections to be over with to have some sanity return to life. Unfortunately, once the election was over, sanity was not restored; the insults continued. Respect was a thing of the past.


Censorship is not likely to happen. Even with the Patriot Act, the Supreme Court struck it down as unconstitutional, which it obviously was. Freedom of speech is a guaranteed right. However, even freedom of speech has its limits; abusive speech can get a person into trouble. The question is always where to draw the line. I agree that the United States tends to be a bit strange in being overly concerned about the politically correct thing, often to the amusement of other nations, but remember what Margaret Halsey said about the English in her book With Malice Toward Some: "The boneless quality of English conversation, which, so far as I have heard it, is all form and no content. Listening to Britons dining out is like watching people play first-class tennis with imaginary balls." So realize that things definitely could be far worse!

Misters Lyons and Writer, I've just finished reading a few of your articles and comments and, well, you guys rock and I look forward to reading more of your works. That is all.

I thank you both for your sincere responses