So Teresa Heinz Kerry was giving a little talk about civility in politics. In the course of the talk, she made reference to the "un-American traits" creeping into today's politics. According to Fox, she said:
"We need to turn back some of the creeping, un-Pennsylvanian and sometimes un-American traits that are coming into some of our politics."
After this little talk on civility, a reporter asked her to clarify what she meant by "un-American" activities. She challenged the reporter in a manner that was--dare I say it--a bit uncivil, and claimed she had never used the word "un-American". And after a quick chat with Governor Ed Rendell, she returned to accuse the reporter of putting words in her mouth, and told him to "shove it." A video of the whole event can be seen here.
Well, I guess tempers do get a bit hot at these civility discussions, but afterward, when things cooled down, I am sure Ms. Heinz Kerry did her best to let the reporter know there were no hard feelings. Or maybe not:
After the incident Sunday, a spokesperson for Heinz Kerry told CNN affiliate WTAE, "This was sheer frustration, aimed at a right-wing rag that has consistently and purposely misrepresented the facts in reporting on Mrs. Kerry and her family."
And all this during a discussion on civility. I look forward to Ms. Teresa Heinz Kerry's holding forth on other subjects about which I am sure she is knowledgable, such as "feeding your family on 20 dollars a week" or "what it's like to grow up poor and black in the inner city."
