Which is worse:

the fact that VP Cheney’s ill-wrought attempt at “West Virginia” humor relied on a lazy and useless trope or the uninspired, vapid commentary issued in response to his snarky remark?

As one who studies rhetoric with an eye to public discourse, I just don’t know what to make of the majority of the comments posted online, the “Web 2.0 New Democracy,” an example of which may be seen over at The Washington Post.

This is the state of our civic discourse?!

Sadly, I have even seen similar discursive techniques, and I use the term loosely, pass as scholarship on rare occasion. But the real question, to my mind, is this: how are we to hold our public officials accountable, how are we even to take each other seriously, when our engagement in public discussions about civic leadership, governance, culture, and participation—not to mention ideological and social difference—amounts to little more than untenable insults, argumenta ad hominem, and generalized smack?

C’mon, folks: shame on us. I know we can do better. Right?