Taking the high road

I usually let political posts on Facebook go. Facebook is not a good forum for reasoned discussion. But after the election last week, someone posted a collage of former first ladies and our prospective new one titled from “class to trash”. All of the women were wearing the basic, political wife, twin set and pearls drag; except Melania, who was nude.  I couldn’t help myself. I said in the comments that it was uncalled for. She had been a model before marrying the Donald, and most models have done nudes at some point, including the former First Lady of France, Carla Bruni.

And I took heat for it, and all along the same theme: If Michelle Obama had nude pics floating around, the right would have given her holy hell and nobody would have defended her. Look at the fuss they raised over her wearing a sleeveless dress to the State of the Union.

• This is not the point, but: There was some defense of Michelle Obama. Many people pointed out that Jackie Kennedy had worn a sleeveless dress to the State of the Union.
• This is the point: Just because some yahoos treated Michelle badly (and they did) that does not give you the right to treat Melania badly.  As the lady herself said “When they go low, we go high.”

Let me clarify that I am no fan of Mr. Trump.  I am seriously troubled by the election results.  I know very little about Melania,  but I feel anger is better directed at Donald Trump and his advisors, not his wife.

And I’m not saying that we should give her (plagiarized) convention speech a free pass.  But calling her a skank and posting old photos doesn’t address that.  It’s just being crude.

I know being the bigger person is not fun.  Taking the high road is a thankless task.  You get no laughs, no-one 'likes' your Facebook posts for not insulting people. There are few memorable one liners; it's both frustrating and boring.

“A soft answer turneth away wrath . . . but a smart aleck one is more personally satisfying.”  - Bloom County

But if we truly want to mend our nation’s social fabric and raise the level of discourse, perhaps we should stop trying to score points off of one another and actually discuss the problems facing us.  If we remain civil, the other side might talk to us.  If we listen to them, they might listen to us.  We might even be able to get something done.