Monday night’s program about the pending U.S. Supreme Court case involving the Phelps family of Topeka is exactly the kind of civil dialogue the Dole Institute of Politics and other venues across the country should encourage.
In honor of Constitution Day, the Dole Institute invited two constitutional scholars — one from Kansas University and one from rival University of Missouri, no less — to discuss opposing viewpoints concerning the Phelps case. The experts focused on the free speech questions and other aspects of the case, which will be argued in Washington next week.
It’s a complicated case and valid points can be made on both sides. Providing a forum where an audience can hear those points presented and disputed by knowledgeable experts surely is exactly the mission former Sen. Bob Dole had in mind for the institute that bears his name.
It’s also great to see that an audience of about 300 people were interested in listening to an intelligent discussion of both sides of such a complex issue. Their interest seems to confirm the desire of some Americans to rise above the combative, contentious nature of too much of the current public dialogue.
Congratulations to the Dole Institute for its continued efforts to promote civic involvement and civil discussion of difficult topics.
Comments
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Made_in_China (Paul R. Getto) says…
Good points. The Institute is a tribute to Senator Dole and his leadership style while in Congress. We need more statesman and fewer ideologues. There are difficult conversations to be held in this country on a variety of issues, including free speech. We must get past the TV news shoutfests and the verbal gymnastics and name-calling if we hope to progress as a country.
deathpenaltyliberal (anonymous) says…
True.
RalphReed (Ralph Reed) says…
Hear, hear!
cato_the_elder (anonymous) says…
Made_in_China, memories are short. When he was at the height of his power in the Senate, Bob Dole was despised by many Democrats who considered him to be consummately partisan. Have you forgotten about his campaign against Bill Roy, in which pamphlets containing pictures of aborted babies were sent to voters a few weeks before the election? I vividly remember a prominent K.U. faculty member whom I'd known for years calling Dole a "son of a bitch" over cocktails at a Lawrence social gathering in the mid-80s.
Dole was always quick to reciprocate. Do you not remember his utterly inane, ridiculous comment during the vice-presidential debate in 1976 that all of our major wars had been "Democrat wars?" 1976 wasn't the Republicans' year, but that stupid comment not only hurt Republicans with voters but reinforced many peoples' views of Kansans as hayseeds.
Yes, he's enjoyed being the "elder statesman" and has been generous to K.U., but when he was in the political trenches he was a prime attack dog and was proud of it. He's been fortunate to have lived long enough to remake his image and appeal to those who wish that all Republicans were RINOs.
WilburM (anonymous) says…
Bob Dole in the 1970s was a different politician than Bob Dole as Senate committee chair and party leader in the 1980s and 1990s. He remained a fierce partisan, to be sure, but he could and did work well with Democratic leaders within the Congress -- including Robert Byrd, George Mitchell, and Tom Daschle, all of whom were strong partisans in their own right. But Dole was highly results oriented and while he could advocate for delay, he also wanted to move things forward and actively legislate. We shouldn't sugar-coat politicians' records, but we should also consider their entire body of work. In Dole's case, he comes out as one of the most important leaders of eh 20th Century, and a pretty good steward of the Senate.
Made_in_China (Paul R. Getto) says…
Cato: Yes, I remember. I also rember the Koch boys sloshing money around to Sam so he could "Jew Bash" Jill Docking when the race tightened up. Dole used whatever it took to win, which is, sadly, how our system operates. When he was leader, he did have the skill to get people to talk to each other, a habit apparently lacking in the present congress. Good point, though and perhaps another reminder of why 'bless the zygotes' should be tossed in the ashcan of history, just like Zeus, phrenology, and the electronic instruments they onced used on women who were 'hysterical.' Science marches on; politics does not.
Cappy (anonymous) says…
It's a interesting indicator of how far out of whack the political discourse is now, that Bob Dole is considered by many to have been a moderate, bipartisan statesman
deathpenaltyliberal (anonymous) says…
At least Bob Dole would have the courtesy to talk AND listen to Democrats. That's better than the know-nothings currently in the Senate.
Furthermore, Sam Brownback and Pat Roberts have made Kansas look more hayseed than anything Dole ever did or said.