Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Where I Stand — Brian Greenspun: Collegiality sorely needed

ALL POLITICS IS local.

If it wasn't one Speaker of the House it was another who uttered those words, meaning that whatever the national issues of importance might be, at the end of the day, just before that lever is pulled, pushed or electronically conveyed, what matters most to the voters is what is happening in their own home towns. And, if that is the case, and there is no reason to think much has changed since Tip O'Neill ruled the roost, what is happening in Clark County bodes well for the body politic.

I would not have known all of this if it had not been for Jon Ralston and a recent "Face to Face" program on Las Vegas ONE. Besides the shameless plug for the all news and information television channel on Cox Cable in which I have a rooting interest, Jon's guests summed up what most voters expect but hardly ever get from their local governments ... collegiality.

Collegiality is the ability of people with disparate political, social and ethical opinions to argue when needed, compromise when required and, no matter what the outcome, be able to break bread, visit and enjoy one another's company in order to fight another day. In short, it is like being married.

I don't know how it is in other households, but if Myra and I treated each other like the elected representatives in Congress and the White House treat each other, then the laws of community property would have been tested long ago and two happy lives would be unhappy forever. At least mine would be unhappy, Myra would fare better.

There is always some give and take on large issues and small -- whether in a household relationship, a business setting or a political one. When the time comes that people don't talk, can't compromise and refuse to even listen, nothing gets done and the people who rely on collective action are continually disappointed. In politics, that means that the voters will always lack faith in their elected representatives who will score just above or, more likely, below used car dealers and lawyers in these interminable polls.

Jon's guests the other day represented two of the best people the Clark County political process has to offer. One was longtime County Commissioner Myrna Williams and the other is a newcomer to the commission, but certainly not to public service, Rory Reid. While the two members of the commission admitted to some disagreements on policy or even politics, they were unwavering in their belief that from a collegiality standpoint, this current County Commission is as good as it gets. At the very least, it is far better than it has been in recent years.

What that means is that when people like and respect each other, regardless of whether they agree with one another, the public benefits because compromises are easy to reach. The converse is also true. If you don't like the other person, you are less likely to trust them, listen to them or even want to want to work with them. That results in acrimony, excessive partisanship and a continuing failure to get the public's business done.

According to Rory and Myrna that is not the case in Clark County. So that means that local politicians have a chance to do what the people expect.

What about the national scene?

There, you might say all politics is loco. Ever since Newt Gingrich rode to power in 1994, the tenor in Washington has been less than cordial, less than compromising and nowhere near collegial. There was hope when he rode himself out of town on a rail of his own making that life would get better, but that has not been the case.

Washington politics has been defined more by what doesn't get done than by what does. More by who is shunned and discredited than by which congressmen of opposite parties get together with legislation that is good for the people and who are willing to share the credit rather than just to cast the blame.

And this isn't me talking. Just ask Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle who says it is the most bitterly partisan environment he has ever seen. Tom is from South Dakota, he should be used to a hard life, but apparently nothing has been as hard as trying to get along with someone from the other side who has been trained to turn away rather than turn toward a colleague of the opposite political party.

And, if you are not willing to accept a Democrat's viewpoint --- that means you are among the group of people I am talking about --- then ask a well-known Republican leader. I am talking about no less than the president of the United States who agrees with Daschle on this point, if only this point.

George W. Bush told Tim Russert on "Meet the Press" that his greatest disappointment in Washington was his inability to bring people together across the political divide. He spoke of the excessive partisanship. He spoke of the inability of people on either side of the aisle to get along. He compared their lack of civility and his failure to change that with the opposite reaction in the state of Texas when he was able to unite those previously divided.

If it has been disappointing to the president of the United States, what should it be to the people who sent these folks back there to work together for the sake of the entire country?

I don't know if that which Gingrich created, Dick Armey continued and Tom DeLay enforces to the hilt, will get fixed in this or even the next election. But, what I do know is if we can create a Clark County Commission that says it gets along because it likes and respects its membership, then there is hope that we can do it on a grander scale. All we need to do as citizens is demand that it be done, and then elect the kind of representatives who not only say the right things at election time but do the right things all year long.

It is called collegiality. Practice it in your home, at your workplace and in your politics. And watch for it on Las Vegas ONE.

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