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Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon, D. (PoliticMo Photo)

JOPLIN, Mo. — Governor Jay Nixon spoke at Missouri Southern State University Saturday to graduates of the school’s general studies, education, and business programs.

Nixon emphasized the importance of an educated and informed citizenry as a way to have an engaged civil discourse mindful of both sides of an argument.

“In our continuous society, the importance of critical thinking cannot be overstated,” Nixon said. “If you listen to what passes as public discourse these days, you will quickly see that many people, and too many people in public life, don’t appear to have the capacity to appreciate the other side of an argument.”

“We are awash in uncivil discourse,” he said. “Our nation cannot make progress that way. If we allow the tone and the substance of our public discourse to continue to degrade, we will damage our ability to create informed, engaged citizens. That will hamper our ability to create genuine consensus around new ideas, and trap us in the mindset of ideology.”

Nixon seemingly referenced the videos pushed by Andrew Breitbart’s website, BigGovernment, that distorted professors from the University of Missouri-St. Louis and and the University of Missouri-Kansas City as an example of the importance of taking a step back from ideology and examining the issue.

“Even our universities have become targets of partisan extremists and gotcha journalists,” Nixon said. “That is toxic to our lives.”

Nixon also spoke of the importance of being global citizens in a growing global economy.

“What happens on one side of the planet… effects people on the other side,” he said. “Your Missouri Southern education has given you the opportunity to take your place as global citizens.”

The MSSU speech was the seventh in a series of eight commencement addresses Nixon was scheduled to deliver this graduation season.