Commentary: Dear Democrats: Make civility great again. Please.

I’m a Gen Xer. We were brought up on Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers, in a world that taught us that no matter what our differences, we had a basic responsibility to be decent and civil and fair to other people. Kind, even. Certainly not ugly or mean. 

I’ve always thought of that as an American value. But the last decade has tested that sorely, especially the last couple of years. 

I’m not just talking about edgelords and bigots spouting off on social media to get attention. I’m talking about the overt racism, sexism, homophobia, corruption and — maybe most of all — stunning lack of empathy or accountability we’re seeing every day from people in high places being paid with our taxpayer dollars. 

It’s not just name-calling, either. Shooting American citizens in the streets. Deporting grandmas and little kids. Terrorizing communities. Cutting food aid and medical care for low-income people to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy. Firing high-ranking officials because they’re black or female. Leaving disaster victims without help. 

The cruelty, as they say, is the point. It always has been, and it’s getting worse. 

In the meantime, an astonishing number of other people in high places — people whose job in part was to act as guardrails against this — have done nothing to stop it, or worse yet, have actively abetted it. 

I initially thought the huge turnout against President Donald Trump this week was about gas prices. On reflection, I think it’s too big to be just that. You don’t get a wave like that because voters are just mad about the economy. 

The last time we saw something this big was in 1974, when voters were viscerally morally repulsed by what they saw unfolding in the Watergate scandal and the Vietnam War. Their repudiation of it was historic. Maybe that’s what’s happening this time, too.

Maybe Americans, at least some of them, are fed up with cruelty and self-dealing. Maybe they don’t recognize their country anymore. Maybe they’re tired of bigots and bullies and an aspiring strongman willing to sell out our closest allies for a good deal on some real estate and a gilded ballroom.

The voters have given Democrats a chance to do better. So prove it. Go high. Make civility and decency great again. I bet a lot of voters will thank you for it.