Politics and civility don’t usually go hand in hand

CONCORD, CA (Mar. 14, 2024) — Politics is the most expensive form of entertainment that our tax dollars are forced to buy, while civility is the least expensive approach that no one seems to be able to afford.

During a raucous City Council meeting recently, we had one group having a constant refrain of calling for democracy and then claiming their constitutional right to heckle, disrupt and interfere with the council. However, when the other side responded with biting comments, that, of course, was out of line.

People want to demand that the council sit silently on the dais as targets for all sorts of screeds and accusations, while they also constantly interrupt us when it is the council’s time to discuss items amongst ourselves.

There seems to be a national trend showing up with twisted logic that has one party claiming the president is immune from criminal prosecution while at the same time trying to propagate criminal prosecution against the other party’s president.

We had a great effort to increase the display of art around the city only to find that prior plans for landscaping and environmental goals led to a classic crash of directives, to the discredit of everyone.

When people’s perception of history, a current issue and what they believe is relevant data comes up, it can also be rather funny. Recently, a speaker touted that they had surveyed a bunch of people “who are opposed to an ordinance” and strongly pushed that those people overwhelmingly opposed the ordinance. Duh.

At the end of the day, the person next to you is your neighbor. What we disagree with today should not interfere with us being united another day. Shockingly, people can also change their views and understandings. It seems like that is a pipe dream (and we do have several dispensaries to help with that).

But in the meantime, let’s try to remember that we are in Concord, named not after a grape but with a hope that we can live side by side in concordance with one other.

Send comments and questions to EdiBirsan@gmail.com.