Director, Commonwealth Policy Center

Tomorrow is the largest picnic in the world and it takes place in the far Western Kentucky hamlet of Fancy Farm, where 20,000 pounds of pork and mutton will be served up, games and raffles will be played, and where the fiery political speeches rival the August heat. It began as a church picnic for St. Jerome Parish in the late 1800's and has morphed into an important fundraising event for the church. But it's also an important political gathering where politicians get on stage and make their case for their policies and reelection bids. It's quite an event, but not without criticism as the heckling and jeering of candidates on stage brings out the worst in the general public.  The picnic is great, it's the incivility and rudeness that we can do without.