SALENA ZITO: Civility is dead — except in real life.

Nowadays, being civil to the other side is possibly unsafe. It’s a sure way to get attacked by your own side. Consider the meltdown by the Left when the New York Times ran a banner headline titled, “Trump Urges Unity vs. Racism”, the day after President Donald Trump spoke to the nation after the weekend massacres, urging unity against racism.

“Lives literally depend on you doing better,” tweeted 2020 Democrat Cory Booker of New Jersey, upset that the headline didn’t make Trump look bad. But New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was far more aggressive: “Let this front page serve as a reminder of how supremacy is aided by and often relies upon the cowardice of mainstream institutions.”

Twitter vitriol then increased over the week. One congressman’s campaign tweeted out names and occupations of his own constituents to shame them for donating to Trump.

It’s all a striking contrast to the normal interaction between Gardner and two of his potential opponents. Seeing these real human interactions should be a reminder that when you turn on cable news and watch the panels of pundits, candidates and experts explaining how their side is better and the other side is the devil, you are watching “experts” who rarely ever observe people outside of social media.

There is a simple reason why the interaction between these candidates in Yuma didn’t make the news or trend on Twitter: It was normal and civil, which reflects the character of this country more accurately than what you see on cable or social media.

Yep.