Watching the final hours of debate over the health insurance reform bill on Sunday evening was both exhilarating and exhausting. The votes were clearly in hand to finally pass this important and necessary legislation and the proceedings had the aura of theater of the absurd. But each member was entitled to have his or her say at the podium and justify their vote to constituents.
What I found deeply disappointing, and even upsetting, was the lack of respect many Members seemed to have for the very process and institution in which they participate. The last speaker in opposition to the bill, Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH), repeatedly used the refrain “Hell, no!” in his remarks . As Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI) spoke in support of the bill, Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-TX) disrupted the proceedings by yelling “baby killer” (Neugebauer claims he was referring to the bill, rather than his colleague). Earlier this year, Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) claimed that the Republican Party’s health care plan called for Americans to “die quickly.” All this comes in the wake of the infamous “You lie!” incident that turned Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) into a folk hero to some after heckling the President of the United States. Multiple members of Congress have been shouted at, spat on, and threatened by opponents of health reform. But if Members of Congress themselves don’t display respect for the lawmaking process and institution, how can we expect Americans to feel it either?
I shouldn’t be surprised by the vitriol. Tearing down the very institutions candidates seek to join is a tried and true recipe for electoral success – and from our earliest days as a nation, campaigns have been filled with personal attacks and salacious smears. (During the 1826 presidential campaign, for example, Andrew Jackson was dubbed a “jackass” by his critics. Some credit this incident for the ongoing association of the Democratic Party with the donkey .)
But whether it’s old news or a new phenomenon, it doesn’t serve anyone’s interests to denigrate public servants and public service. Elected officials, like people in every profession, can be exceptionally good at their jobs or exceptionally bad at them, and usually they fall somewhere in between. But what incentive is there for “the best and the brightest” to pursue a public service job with long hours, lots of travel, comparatively mediocre pay, and little respect when it also comes with a side order of hateful, personal attacks?
I’m not a Pollyanna – there are more than a few members of Congress whose viewpoints I find deplorable. But at the end of the day, agree or disagree, we should be able to do so with respect for the institutions of democracy and for the commitment to public service any elected official demonstrates.