Is Courtesy "Old School"?

Post #42

During rehearsals for the musical “Oliver!” at my synagogue, a young boy had placed his feet (in shoes) on the seats in the sanctuary.  Another cast member scolded him and asked him to remove them.  He did so.  I gave her a thumbs-up and indicated that I thought I was the only one who would have admonished him in this way.  My colleague laughed and said we were both “old school.”

This made me wonder: “Is Courtesy ‘Old School’?”

Politics is often rough-and-tumble, but nowadays we are seeing something far more troubling. We should be offended by the name-calling and partisan bickering that has accompanied the national debate over health care reform.  One of the rules in most legislative bodies (including in the General Assembly in Annapolis) is that one never addresses a colleague by name on the floor during debate.  This formality takes the edge off the disagreement when one is arguing with “the gentleman from Southern Maryland” rather than taking issue with “Mr. Owings.”

Instead, we’ve seen members of Congress shout out “You Lie!” or “Baby Killer” in the Chamber of the House!  Perhaps they’re just following the example of some of their constituents, who hurled epithets and actually spat on duly-elected Congressional leaders.  Both should be strongly condemned as inappropriate, disrespectful, and unhelpful to policy-making.

Let's debate important policy issues without impugning the opposition’s motives or character.  Perhaps our legislators and activists would do well to remember Jack Webb’s character, Sgt. Friday, who constantly implored, “Just the facts, ma’am.”  That’s not “Old School.”  It’s called respect, dignity, courtesy… and might even allow them to get more done!

I would love to hear from you, dear Blog reader!  How can we prevent the rude and offensive behavior we see more and more lately?  How do you model respect for others, even when you disagree?  Please send an email to Blog@CherylKagan.org or click on the "Comments" link below to express your views.  Please be sure to indicate which post (#42) you're addressing.

Thanks for reading.  I will post again soon.