Jon Kyl: “one of the things I remember that my father taught me--and it has stood me in good stead, though I have not always…”

“one of the things I remember that my father taught me--and it has stood me in good stead, though I have not always followed the advice--is to have strong convictions but always to deal in moderation and be reasonable in your approach, to listen to other people and try to be responsible in what you say. In all things, moderation would have applied to the advice he gave me frequently. Again, not to say one should not have strong views, but you can be more effective in communicating those views if you treat people decently, if you listen to what they have to say, and if you express your own views with a degree of humility and moderation. That is something that, sad to say, even in my relatively short time in the Congress, I have seen adhered to, sadly, less and less. Certainly, the Senator from West Virginia sets a standard for all of us in the way that he treats this body, the revere he has for the institution and, therefore, the care he takes to deal in this body in an appropriate and responsible way, in the great tradition of the body. I mention that because the coarsening of our language, I suppose, can be expected to be manifested first in the political environment. It certainly has occurred with increasing intensity over the years, though, not just in political campaigns but even on the floor of the Senate and engaged in by colleagues in the Congress as well as pundits and others.…”