An intern for Sen. Maggie Hassan yelled “Mr. President, f— you” as Donald Trump and his entourage made their way across the Capitol rotunda on June 19. Caitlin Marriott, 21, has been suspended for a week and her movement in the Capitol is now restricted.
Marriott’s slur won’t go down as one of the more thoughtful critiques of the Trump administration, but it wasn’t without impact. As part of a guerrilla movement to make members of the administration think twice about showing their faces in public, the young intern garnered a few headlines and ruffled plenty of feathers. Now the fragmented Democratic Party must engage in a distracting conversation about civility in the age of Trump while fending off waves of manufactured outrage from Republicans – or whatever the Party of Trump is calling itself these days. You can almost hear the high-fives echoing from the Oval Office.
The madness of this political moment is boundless.
Under ideal circumstances, civility is a natural byproduct of respect rather than a rule of polite society. You don’t have to remind yourself to be civil to the spouse you love, the co-worker you admire or the friendly neighbor who waves to you every morning. You are courteous because it would be incongruous to be otherwise. But outside that circle of intimacy, civility is often a rapid calculation. Does the rude waiter deserve your patience or your wrath? How about the careless driver who cut you off or the stranger who ridiculed your opinion on Twitter?
More importantly, how should you treat a presidential administration that you perceive as an existential threat? Do Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Stephen Miller, Kirstjen Nielsen and the many others who have chosen Trump over country deserve civility?
The answers are subjective. Some people see injustice and take to the streets; others work quietly but diligently for change. The nature of a person dictates their response, and one nonviolent action cannot be more correct than the other. Civility is typically more pleasing to witness, but sometimes discomfort caused by agitation is required. Perhaps this is one of those times.
That said, shouting “Mr. President, f— you” has no purpose beyond shock and a few cheap headlines. Worse, it’s completely unoriginal. If you’re more inclined toward provocation than civility, the least you can do is put some effort into what you yell across the Capitol rotunda. There’s plenty of material to work with.
And if after great effort you still find yourself unable to come up with anything more creative than “f— you,” maybe give civility a try. Despite what some would have you believe, it won’t make you any less of an opponent of this administration as long as it’s executed with courage and resolve.