Have you heard? Maureen Tucker  Moe  former drummer of the Velvet Underground, is in league with the Tea Party. Thats right: The woman who sang about heroin with Lou Reed in the 1960s is now attending rallies in Georgia and shouting about creeping U.S. socialism and King Obama, according to the Guardian (no, not that Guardian, the one in London). News organizations arent sure its the same Moe Tucker, but a lot of clues point to that being the case. (For one, she moved to Georgia in 1984.) Regardless, it raises the question: Who started all this? What happened to civility in politics and social discourse? There was a time -- several decades ago, in fact -- when political foes cooperated with each other (as much as possible, anyway) and worked toward the common good. A person who served in Congress when cooler heads ruled is Jim Leach, a 30-year veteran of Capitol Hill -- and a Republican from Iowa. Hes now the head of the National Endowment for the Humanities; restoring civility to public and political discourse is one of his top priorities. He warns that the state of communication has become a crisis, and it will damage our interests here and abroad if we dont do something to change it. San Francisco is among the stops hell make in all 50 states on his civility tour. We hope Tucker goes to see him when he stops near her town.

Thu., Oct. 14, noon, 2010