It's worth asking ourselves what each of us may have done to contribute to this vicious atmosphere in our politics. I suspect that all of us can recall some intemperate words that we regret. Certainly I can. While some may be more to blame than others for the current climate, all of us are responsible for reversing it. It is a cycle that is not an accurate reflection of America and it has to stop. I say that not because it's a matter of political correctness … it's about the way that corrosive behavior can undermine our democracy and our society and even our economy.

In America there aren't laws that say we have to be nice to each other, or courteous or treat each other with respect. But there are norms, there are customs, there are values that our parents taught us and that we try to teach to our children. To try to treat others the way we want to be treated, the notion that kindness breeds kindness. The longer that we allow the political rhetoric of late to continue and the longer that we tacitly accept it, we create a permission structure that allows the animosity in one corner of our politics to infect our broader society. And animosity breeds animosity.