Originally published in The Mark
Why a more polite political community would be a more
productive one.
The strange metaphor "Washington is broken" became
more firmly embedded in common wisdom during the recent
debt-ceiling debate. But the debate revealed that Washington
isn't simply broken; it's also rude. As some renew calls
for reform to address government dysfunction, perhaps the best
place to start would be to ask public figures to be more
polite.
It is not just that it is discrediting and unseemly when
politicians are discourteous; civility also has an instrumental
value. A civil political community can be a more productive
one.
U.S. President Barack Obama
described the debt-limit-negotiation process as
"messy." It was actually a lot worse. One senator
referred to opponents within his own party as
"hobbits." The
response was to call the senator a "troll." A
congressman
referred to the final deal that was reached as a
"sugar-coated Satan
