A Humble Poltician is a Good Politician

Link: Political Notebook by Daniel Scarpinato : Farley gets singed on procedural misstep.

"After avoiding a possible ethics violation Thursday, state Rep. Steve Farley spent the rest of the day doing some soul searching and meditation.

The whole incident started when Farley, D-Tucson, grabbed his mic on the House floor and complained that Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Gilbert, had used a procedural tactic to amend a bill after it had gone through committee.

The amendment threatened Farley’s pet cause: mass transit.

In efforts like Tucson’s 2006 Regional Transportation Authority vote, Biggs wants voters to be asked to vote separately on things like roads and public transit rather than bulking it altogether.

Farley called it "an underhanded trick that should be shot down now."

With that, Biggs said Farley had "impugned" him, and Farley was ruled "out of order" since House rules state that you can’t "arraign motives of members."

A couple of minutes later, Farley backhandedly apologized, saying: "I did not mean to impugn you by calling it what I called it. In fact, I meant to call it a very clever maneuver that I’m going to learn from very carefully next time I have a bill in committee that doesn’t go to the floor."

That wasn’t the end of things. Later, he provided a more sincere apology on the floor, and if that wasn’t enough, he apologized again personally to Biggs — dodging an ethics violation.

"Frankly, since that event last afternoon, I have done a lot of soul searching," said Farley, who often complains about House partisanship. "I can do better, and I’m taking it as a soul-searching way to see how I can be much more open and work better and play my part."

I think Dan’s characterization of the incident as an ‘ethics violation’ is incorrect; I would term it a possible ‘reprimand for breach of appropriate legislative decorum.’ But, regardless — I was most impressed by Farley’s reaction to the incident.

Instead of getting self-righteous and insisting in the rectitude of his cause (which is assuredly right, in my view) he did something that too few politicians do these days… He resolved to be a better man, and a more effective politician.

I corresponded with Steve via email after reading Scarpinato’s diary:

"Steve, I gotta say that I was mightily impressed by the way you handled the
dust-up with Biggs. Learning from a humbling experience like that and
resolving to be a better man is rare wisdom in politics."

Steve wrote back:

"I appreciate your response. Yeah, it’s a difficult trick to be caught up in the passions of the fight up there when the issues are personally important to you, and still be able to step back and look at what you are saying and how it feels to the other side. Especially if you feel they are completely wrong on the issues, and you are upset that they used a maneuver that deprived the public of being able to voice its opinion during testimony in committee.

But that’s the most important time to be able to call in perspective and realize that the other side feels just as strongly that they are right, and their constituents with similar views deserve to be heard as well. That’s the basis of our democratic system of governance–being able to disagree without being disagreeable. Even though I disagree with Mr Biggs on almost everything and he has refused to hear any of my bills, I do enjoy his demeanor as a committee chair and his willingness to let me speak my truth in committee despite his belief that I am wrong.

I talk a lot about the need for the Republicans to be less partisan and recognize the value of other opinions. In fact, in my comments before I used the offending phrase were about the need for opposing sides to work together in order to get a transportation plan passed. In this instance, my actions did not match my own ideals. I hope that when we Democrats are in the majority we will be hearing Republican bills in committees, debating in civil fashion on the floor, and working together for the good of all Arizonans.

I led the prayer before this floor session. I recited a favorite of mine, a New Zealand translation of the Lord’s Prayer that is much closer to the original Aramaic. My favorite line in that prayer is "In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us."  I meditated on this line later that afternoon in the drive home from Phoenix, and now believe the lessons I have learned in public last Thursday afternoon will make me a better legislator in the future."

I couldn’t agree more — though I think we have a mighty fine legislator already in Mr. Farley.

There are few people as thoroughly partisan and vociferous about it as I. I love a good fight and vigorous debate. I even descend to getting personal, at times, much to my regret. But the one thing that I try not to do is to discount those on the other side as being less for being different (or simply being wrong…). They aren’t less human, they aren’t less American, they aren’t less honestly trying to pursue their own vision of the common good.

Any of the many southern Arizona Republican office-holders and candidates who have attended meetings of my Drinking Liberally chapter know the debate is fierce, but the respect accorded to our guests is genuine. We need more engagement and open-ended discussion between conservatives and liberals to make our politics more productive, not less.

Our ideal for cooperation between the Parties should not be bipartisanship, it should be the pursuit of civil and honest partisanship.

I may find Republicans to be fundamentally wrong in some of their assumptions or reasoning. I may think them deluded or ignorant about the nature of the world. But they aren’t any less my fellow Americans for all that. To truly engage in politics one must be polite enough (note the shared root of those words) to listen, to explain yourself, and to look for common ground arising from common values – and to compete vigorously and honestly and with good humor on everything else.

These are ideals and standards that we all too frequently forget in the heat of our political rivalries. They are ideas and standards that are hard to live up to. Difficult habits require cultivation and practice simply because they do not come naturally or easily. We have to be mindful and make a decision to practice following the more difficult path and we’ll be rewarded with virtue and wisdom, not to mention a more productive political discourse.

Steve’s run-in with political humility demonstrates that he’s on the right path. I’m glad to report that he’s doing his best to live up to his own high standards. I hope others on both sides of the aisle choose to follow his good example.