Leading by Example
What used to be policy disagreements has turned into hateful slander.
As a political analyst that has been in hundreds, if not thousands of debates, arguments and challenging conversations, I have walked into every room with one simple mantra: stay calm, be respectful and tell the truth. Early in my career, it seemed to me that most other people in my position followed those three simple tenets, both those whom I worked with and countless others on TV and radio.
In the last decade, however, that seems to be the exception rather than the rule. From outraged pundits on the radio to politicians in the White House, the basic norms of how we engage with each other have degraded to the point of falling apart altogether. It wasn’t so long ago that maturity was expected in positions of power and influence. Now, social media algorithms and an exponentially more competitive media landscape reward outrage over insight.
It would be easy to indulge in that behavior, which is why it’s even more important to resist it whenever we face it. That is doubly true for Black men, for whom one flash of anger means being associated with the “angry Black man” trope for the rest of our lives. Black rage is something to be feared while white rage is simply an expression of emotion or passion.
That double standard is no more visible than in President Donald Trump’s continued electoral success over the last decade despite constant outbursts, rants and expletive-laden insults. He has set an example for his Republican colleagues, with his language and behavior going almost entirely unchecked by anyone on his side of the aisle. He has called for Democrats to be hanged, suggested that “a whole civilization will die tonight” under his orders and proclaimed that undocumented immigrants were “poisoning the blood of our country,” among thousands of other examples.
This is the same party that, less than 20 years ago, nominated the late Sen. John McCain, a presidential candidate with the integrity to tell a woman at a town hall expressing fears about then-Democratic nominee Barack Obama, “No ma’am, he is a decent family man.” He even drew applause from a largely conservative audience.
Now, we are led by the only president in U.S. history with an entire Wikipedia page dedicated to his rhetoric – citing examples of his “vitriol, demeaning language and fearmongering” and “high volume of lies.” Let’s call it what it is: unhinged ravings.
As a nation, we’re supposed to be better than that. Instead, what used to be policy disagreements has turned into hateful slander. And this isn’t just about being nice to one another. The rise in violent rhetoric is directly mirrored by a rise in violent acts.
This isn’t a “both sides” issue, either. Right-wing extremist violence has been responsible for the overwhelming majority of fatalities, amounting to approximately 75% to 80% of U.S. domestic terrorism deaths since 2001, according to both government and independent analyses. In fact, from 2022 to 2024, right-wing extremists were connected to every single identified extremist-related killing in the country, according to the Anti-Defamation League.
That is why it is even more important for conservatives who are supposed to represent the more moderate, rational and ever-shrinking faction of the Republican Party to be responsible with their language and actions.
If the last 10 years have proven anything, though, that is unlikely to happen any time soon. Modern politics is broken, and surveys show our country is more viciously divided than at any point since the Civil War almost 200 years ago. It is going to take a long time to fix it, from putting guardrails around the social media algorithms that increasingly expose us to extremist rhetoric, to restoring a shared sense of identity and a common understanding of objective reality.
While those solutions will take years to come to fruition, there is one thing we can all do right now: Vote Democrat. There is exactly one party in this state and in this country right now that has not sacrificed itself to the demented whims of one petty, corrupt, convicted felon.
There is exactly one party that is not deporting children with cancer, setting record prices at the gas pump and wreaking havoc with healthcare.
In Georgia, we have an opportunity to elect leaders who will fight for us and push back against the insidious influences of cruelty and greed. That starts at the state level.
We need candidates who recognize that the system is broken, not those who will break it beyond repair. This isn’t about Democrat versus Republican; this is about common sense versus corrosive hate. Vote like it. 
Tharon Johnson is founder and CEO of Paramount Consulting Group.
