I have many, many flaws as a person (Ed: are you sure you want to open that can of worms?). I eat way too much fast food. I talk too much, and I don’t know anything about cars. That last one popped into my head this morning as I was reading a story in the Gazette about a rare vintage car being stolen. Unfortunately for the owner, this rare BMW worth $150,000 was taken by bad guys. Now, to me, cars are a way to get from point A to point B. I don’t understand collecting cars, nor do I get how an old car can be worth so much. I am vaguely aware that there is some sort of difference between a Camaro and a Corvette, but I can’t tell them apart. In my family, by brilliant and beautiful wife is the “car guy.” But lots and lots of people love cars, and I’m glad they give pleasure. I hope the owner gets his BMW back soon.

In reading the story about the stolen car and reflecting on the events of last week, I found myself musing about what people value and whether that has changed. I grow concerned when a Senator Lindsey Graham rants dramatically and when my Facebook feed is filled with expressions of hatred and bile. Have we stopped valuing civility? Given the divisiveness of the recent Supreme Court nominee’s hearings, and the remarkable rage on both sides surrounding the issue, I am tempted to abandon text for this column and only post pictures of kittens as a public service.

I’ve written before about my concerns on civility and the degree to which we are dividing ourselves into clans that demand purity of thought as a prerequisite for membership. And I continue to joust against the windmill of intolerance in an age of Trump. It was, therefore, a truly sad week for me on Facebook, where I have long avoided making political statements (mostly) and have embraced friends from across the political spectrum. But Mr. Kavanaugh has tested that resolve.

Just as some folks value old cars, I value an ability to disagree without rage. I very much enjoy a passionate discussion when points are argued enthusiastically but without any demonization of those who differ. I won’t revisit the hearing in which Dr. Ford powerfully told her story and Judge Kavanaugh energetically told his; there is already far too much water under that bridge. But the selective listening that was going on, in my view more by the GOP than the Dems, but your opinion may vary, resulted in such rage that it spilled out into society like a poisoned stream of hate. And it appears that tainted waterway ran right down the middle of my Facebook feed. Good friends, new and old, weighed in with a vituperative spirit I have not seen since the election of Mr. Trump. Some of my friends on the hard Right posted, some while Dr. Ford was still speaking, that she was a hired shill, a lying money-grabber, though it wasn’t really clear how she will be cashing in on death threats and hate mail. Some of my friends on the Left posted, while Judge Kavanaugh was still speaking, that he was a power-mad serial rapist. I doubt either side stopped to thoughtfully read the posts of the other.

I certainly have my own point of view – I believe her. I believe the now-adult males who came forward decades after being abused by Catholic priests. I believed and still believe Anita Hill. But I also believe that those who disagree are not inherently bad people. Now-Justice Neil Gorsuch went to the same schools and was also a brilliant scholar. When his confirmation hearing took place, after over a year of GOP delays in filling an empty seat, there was never a whisper of the type of charges Judge Kavanaugh faced. You’d think, if the Dems were all about stonewalling, it would have been Gorsuch who would have faced fabricated charges, but his character was never at issue. But regardless, the rancor and vindictiveness of the last week makes me sad about our government and about the American people.

My late father, the best man I ever met, had a motto: when you can think two things about a person, choose to think the kinder of the two. I have tried to live my life by that motto, albeit with mixed success. The Kavanaugh hearings tested that affirmation, and I confess, I’m not entirely sure I succeeded.

Kindly Editor, if you fell it would be helpful, please feel free to delete this entire column and replace it with kitten pictures – that might be the greater public service.

(Ed: I’ll consider it)