Courtesy is Imperative for Public Officials

In a free society it is absolutely imperative that elected officials be respectful of their constituents and of their fellow elected officials if anything positive is to be accomplished. It doesn’t matter if you like the other person or not. What matters is that you treat them with respect as a human being and, in some cases, as a peer. That’s one of the reasons we use Robert’s Rules of Order to conduct public meetings, to keep them civil and respectful of others. We have a free society because our system encourages civil discourse and frowns on personal attacks in meetings. It’s the only way...