That would be an interesting study: Has there ever been a point where politics were even remotely definable as "civil"? I think when most people say it what they're talking about is when the press never wrote about what a man-slut President Kennedy was.

hmmm. prelapsarian. theology major in another life?

No. I just hear smart people on NRO always using that word, and I want people to think I'm smart too.

Actually, Atrios was just quoting Bill Clinton's call for more civility. He doesn't explicity endorse Clinton's view.

Try making a polite, contrarian comment at Atrios' little swillhole. Within minutes, the deranged liberals who frequent the site will respond with vicious attacks and probably call for your actual death in a painful manner. They are impervious to any facts that dont conform to their "Bush crime family, Halliburton contracts, no Al Qaeda-Saddam nexus, etc" worldview. Logic is not woven into their mental mosaic.
I've learned you cant have a civil debate with these folks. All you can do is beat them and mock them mercilessly while doing so.