Trickle-Down Democracy

A few blocks away from FrancisPage headquarters, the city of Tucson desires to annex about three square miles of upscale neighborhood. Several people want to know what that will get them, so last night, a few city administrators held a get-acquainted meeting.

A colleague of mine -- who was attending as a citizen of that neighborhood and not a reporter -- expected a cordial evening, along the lines of that famous Norman Rockwell town-hall painting. Instead, things turned rancid.

Opponents filled the room. Not just the loyal opposition, but foaming, frothy grumblers still ticked off at some failed city plan from years ago. Maybe they hated Tucson's leadership. Maybe they hated growth. Maybe they didn't want the "gub-mint" messing with their peaceful setting. It didn't matter. Whatever reasons they gave had little to do with the issue on the table.

It all stunned that co-worker of mine, who said "this one guy got up and asked (of the speaker for the city), 'Are you the guy I talked with on the phone today?'" That one guy then went into a bluster rivaling a tropical depression.

I wasn't surprised. "You are seeing the Bill O'Reilly and Keith Olbermann-ization of democracy," I said. "It all trickles down."

The No-Spin Zone and Worst People In The World arrived in Tucson last night, whether we wanted them or not. We cannot embrace bare-knuckle politics on the radio and television without it warping our perspective into a perpetual us-versus-them mentality.

Skepticism is healthy. Vigilance is a tentpole of democracy. But Tucson's management didn't deserve the angry gripefest they got last night. That annexation plan will likely die a caustic death for all the wrong reasons, and I won't blame the people who held out the olive branch.

We complain about partisan bickering in Washington, but we're quite capable of doing it ourselves.