Reid Gives Senate Lecture on Civility

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), “in an unusual aside in the midst of a tense debate over the budget impasse, took to the floor to remind lawmakers about the rules of decorum. Guidance like: Senators should not address each other by their first names, they should address each other in the third person … and so on,” Fox News reports.

Said Reid: “We all have to understand that these rules create a little bit of distance so senators are more likely to debate ideas and less likely to talk about personalities. And if we do that, we maintain a more civil decorum as a result. So I bring this matter to the attention of senators because we’ve fallen out of this habit. It’s gotten worse the last month or so.”