By Alan Lytle
Lexington, KY – A top Obama Administration official will be spending the next couple of days in Lexington as part of a fifty-state civility tour. Jim Leach is the Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities. He says his "Words Do Matter" campaign has taken on added significance in the wake of the finger-pointing by many on the left and right following the shooting of Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.
"Parties to debate ought to be willing to listen to the other side and at least take into cognizance that other people have other values. And, unless you come to respect other people and understand other people, it's pretty hard to think that one's own view will be respected. That's why we have this democratic society that we value so much."
Leach maintains, even in the current political climate people can disagree without being disagreeable.
"Many Americans have reached conclusions that are somewhat libertarian, others have reached conclusions that are favoring more government intervention, and so you see different judgments and different people. What I'm simply trying to express is not which side is right or wrong on any kind of issue, but that we as a people are going to want to think a great deal about whether we're one people and one society with one set of common goals."
Chairman Leach will speak Thursday evening at 7 at Fasig-Tipton Sales Pavilion on Newtown Pike. The event, co-sponsored by the Kentucky Humanities Council, and the Gaines Center for the Humanities, is free and open to the public.