You Can't Sling Mud Without Getting Yourself Dirty

(I probably should not be posting this as my point will surely be misunderstood)
A well-known Israeli lawyer, Yoram Sheftel, was on the radio cursing out Rav Shteinman. He was commenting on what Rav Shteinman said earlier today, when he said about members of the current government who voted in favor of the new draft law that their names should be blotted out, that they should all descend to Hell... and he went and cursed and talked disparagingly about Rav Shteinman.
I did not hear what he said, but Kikar Shabbos reports on the incident, though they leave off the curses he actually said. MKs went on the attack. Others are forming a movement to have Sheftel sanctioned..
I am not going to defend Sheftel. Of course not. What he did was wrong and despicable.
However, when the public discourse is set in those terms, when rabbis are daily calling political opponents "enemies of israel", "their names should be blotted out", "Amalek", "Hitler", and more, does it surprise anyone when someone else has had enough and throws it back? Where is the outrage against calling other Jews Amalek or against saying nasty things about other groups?
You don't have to like someone, but you also don't have to be so mean. and if that is where you are going to let yourself go, don't be surprised when other people go to the same place.
Haredi MKs should not just be expressing their outrage, but should be working within their own community to improve the style of dialog and tone of conversation.
you can't sling mud without getting yourself dirty
(by the way, you can hear his interview on both the Kooker and Srugim websites)
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