People Choosing Civility? I Call Bullshit.

This one comes from the Washington Post on April 25. Writer Mary Otto seems to be thinking that this is catching on here.

There are 40,000 "Choose Civility" magnets around suburban Howard County, Md., and more on the way. Some adorn cars; others sit on office desks as reminders.

Yeah, minivans and Priuses. But I do not see many on SUVs. That's because SUVs scream hostility with their gas guzzling, awesome V8s that could make a hybrid into a metal heap. I am so glad I drive a SUV.

I digress, though. Having a magnet != choosing civility. It means having a magnet.

Later in the article, Otto speaks with Dr. Forni, who got us into this mess in the first place. He recalls the moment he decided to write his very obvious book.

He remembers the moment clearly, although it was more than a decade ago. He was giving a lecture on "The Divine Comedy" at the Baltimore campus, and looked out over the earnest young faces.

"I would like very much that they know everything about Dante," he thought. But more urgently, "I wanted them to be kind human beings."

This seems like a lateral career move for Forni. He was lecturing on hell and realized that no one was listening. So he decided to write a book that the county adopted which attempts to alleviate hell. Subsequently, Howard County library decides to adopt the book and alleviated hell with car magnets. Wait? Not yet? Oh.