Professional Clip 30: Richard Gephardt, A Plea for Civility

Our founding fathers created a system of government of men, not of angels. No one standing in this house today can pass a puritanical test of purity that some are demanding that our elected leaders take. If we demand that mere mortals live up to this standard, we will see our seats of government lay empty and we will see the best, most able people unfairly cast out of public service. We need to stop destroying imperfect people at the altar of an unobtainable morality. We need to start living up to the standards, which the public in its infinite wisdom understands, that imperfect people must strive towards, but too often fall short. We are now rapidly descending into a politics where life imitates farce. Fratricide dominates our public debate, and America is held hostage to tactics of smear and fear.