Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Civility Deb

Debbie Wasserman Schultz, official portrait, 112th Congress.jpgDebbie Wasserman Schultz is out, today, with her first book.  In his Politico Playbook, Mike Allen calls it a "D.C. Must-Read."  Which, if true, is the most depressing news to come out of the Imperial City so far this week. But, then, it is only Tuesday.
Anyway … the book is called For the Next Generation: A Wake-Up Call to Solving Our Nation's Problems.  
Just what the country needs, a wake-up call.  Why didn't someone think of that sooner?
Allen reports that Ms. Wasserman Schultz:
...started writing the book three years ago because she wanted to describe how being a young mom changed her outlook on what members of Congress should do to make good policy: “We tell our kids to work together and care about their community. We need to do the same.”  
And quotes from a chapter called “DiscourseNot Discord”:
“Differences of opinion are natural and healthy aspects of a democracy governed by two parties, and we must be able to express these differences with civility. But as anyone who has observed Washington knows, we are not always able to hold ourselves to these standards of conduct. The modern political climate is nastier than any in recent memory, marked by party members who tend to hector one another when they should be engaged in constructive debate.”
Outside of Washington that sort of stuff is laughable. 
"Civility," thanks to the Wasserman Schultz’s of the world, has become another word without meaning.  Only political utility.  

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