“Manner is personality—the outward manifestation of one’s innate character and attitude toward life.” ~Emily Post
Politics. Keith Urban walked a few years ago while we were celebrating a family birthday. For a barely perceptible moment the decibel level in the room dropped as each of us said to our neighbor, “There are Nicole and Keith.”
As quickly as the noise level dropped, it returned to normal bistro din while the celebrity pair were seated at a corner table and we each went back to discussing the menu and the quality of the food.
The moment – and that is all it was – lasting no more than a second or two but in that tiny interval a collective agreement was reached. Aside from acknowledging their presence quietly, no one was going to interfere with their evening out.
It is the sort of thing that happens in ways large and small if you just take the time to notice. Brief moments that crystallize rules of civility which, in turn, form the standard of behavior for most people.
Most people, just not all people.
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s decision to leave the Democratic Party probably had nothing to do with being followed into the ladies’ room at Arizona State University last fall by “activists” unhappy with her position on the Build Back Better Act.
It is ironic and at the same time humorous, that she chose to join one of the Senate’s chief norm-breakers, Sen. Bernie Sanders, as an Independent. Sanders had hounded both Sen. Sinema and Sen. Joe Manchin over their concerns about the massive bill in ways that probably would have received a rebuke from leadership just a few years ago.
Sen. Sinema’s new affiliation probably will not change the political dynamic that much. but she has delivered a message, nonetheless.
Policy. A few months ago, in an interview with Dr. Tracy Beth Hoeg, we discussed the absence of vaccine mandates among the Nordic countries. Dr. Hoeg had asked her husband, a Dane, about the coercive concept. She said the Danes have little in the way of an semantic analogy, probably because it was unnecessary. There is collective agreement that what is good for health does not need the muscle of the state.
It should have been the first worrying sign that employees of America’s largest command and control organization, the United States Armed Forces, were well represented among the vaccine hesitant.
This is the same organization that brought us the mosquito repellant, DEET, by asking servicemen to stick their arms into a swarm of the pesky blood suckers.
I digress.
The rationale for mandating Covid-19 shots was probably based on a belief that serviceman and women are primarily Republicans or anti-vaxers or from Alabama. Or something equally incurious. As the risk of vaccine-related cardiac complications enters the mainstream it turns out that perhaps there is wisdom in the crowd.
The U.S. House of Representatives now agrees. Last week they voted to repeal the White House’s mandate for Covid-19 vaccines as part of the National Defense Authorization Act.
Power. While Sen. Sinema took a little of the wind out of the majority’s sails in the wake of Sen. Raphael Warnock’s defeat of Herschel Walker last week, an eternal truth of politics prevailed. Candidate quality matters, especially in the Senate.
Feel free to point to your favorite nut bag, wingnut member of the House as evidence anyone can get elected. You may even offer up Sen. Rand Paul. Of course, he is from Kentucky. Or you could call out Sen. Bernie Sanders – in which case you are probably right.
Since the direct election of senators, states have spit out a version of compromise manifest in their two senators that reconciles the interests of the farmer and the office worker; the CEO and the forklift operator; women and men; black and white with a few shades in between.
To secure a seat in the World’s Most Deliberative Body you must be appealing well beyond the tastes of a former president wiling away his retirement at Mar-a-largo.
Historically, recognition of both the honor and the challenge of representing diverse populations has resulted in a level of deference, comity and good manners that, until recently, made a very difficult job worth doing. Arguably, it is probably the only way the job of senator can be done.
As the former president slips into obscurity and takes with him his poor (public) manners, name calling and general debasement of civic life, we can only hope he takes Sen. Sanders with him and anyone else that likes haranguing women in restrooms.
Have a great rest of your weekend.
Emily Evans
Managing Director – Health Policy
Twitter
LinkedIn
