What are the rules of responsible discourse?

This is a troubling political time, and now more than ever it's important that political messaging is clear and free of hyperbole. After 8 years of Republican hysteria about Obama, I'm seeing some of the same trends starting to come out of the Democratic base. This makes me nervous. There is a good deal of uncertainty about this presidential administration, and that creates fertile ground for hyperbole, conspiracy theories and aggressive language. It is necessary to start self-policing what we say on social media about the Trump administration.

If our goal is to remove Trump from office, several things are going to be necessary to ensure the country's long-term stability. If the 2019 congress moves to impeach the president, this cannot be seen as a one-sided partisan move. We need Republicans to sign on to any impeachment and removal from office. Otherwise, any future Democratic administration will be subject to the same threat. Here is what we can do to avoid that outcome:

• Our rhetoric needs to be calm and serious.
• Accusations of wrongdoing need to be free of innuendo and conspiracy theories.
• Calls for and imagery of violent action need to be avoided, full stop.
• Accusations of treason need to stop==*==.

If we feed the Trump Administration's accusations of hysteria, we risk alienating Republican members of congress who may be natural allies. If we can convince John McCain and Lindsey Graham (to name two) that Trump is an existential threat to democracy, then we have a chance at a positive outcome.

This is especially critical now that we've had the first instance of violence motivated by anti-Trump sentiment. I never imagined that this would happen, and we should take it as a warning sign. You and your friends may be sane, stable people, but you never know if some insane asshole is reading and decides to escalate angry rhetoric to real violence.

We need to demonstrate what we know to be true, that the Democratic base is able to keep itself in check, and not devolve into insanity in the same way that the Fox News/Breitbart faction of the GOP has.

What should we be doing?

If your friends on social media are throwing around dangerous rhetoric on social media, please tell them to cut it out. This means calling out liberal propaganda sites, conspiracy theories and stupid mainstream media stories. Don't post think-pieces about how #covfefe is indicative about some larger trend.

Stick to the important things. Trump's obstruction of justice. Trump's nepotism. Trump's appalling immigration, climate and foreign policies. Trump's contempt for the judicial branch of government. I'm sure this list will keep expanding the longer Trump is in office.

At the same time, stay focused on the abomination that is the GOP healthcare bill. Push your state government to enact healthcare legislation that insulates you from gigantic fuckups at the federal level.

* Treason is extremely narrowly defined in US law. Throwing this word around only demonstrates ignorance.