Civility instead of bullets

The University of Arizona has responded to the Tucson shooting by launching a high-profile National Institute for Civil Discourse, with former presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush as honorary chairs. At first the idea of responding to bullets with an institute sounds a tad crazy, but I suspect that this kind of response is the only way to create lasting change.

The University, by the way, isn’t claiming that our un-civil discourse caused the shooting.

(T)he shootings created a space for people to focus on civility, and the Institute is building on that positive outcome of a tragic event.

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