The recent exchange between Gov. Mark Dayton and some community members in a discussion about increases in legislative pay ("Dayton says forum crowd in Shakopee was 'juvenile,' " May 1) illustrates a common problem.
In Minnesota and across the United States, government is continuously cited as something terrible, and members of an opposing party are fair game for insults and ridicule.
Stated plainly, we are losing — we have lost — respect for our government and public officials. Polls consistently show low approval ratings. A Gallup poll in January showed the average approval rating of Congress to be 15 percent, the lowest ever, with Republicans rating 6 percent.
Fewer than one in 10 rated the honesty and ethical standards of Congress as "very high" or "high," only slightly better than car salesmen, who were at the bottom of the list. And we all remember U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson yelling "you lie" at President Obama during an address to Congress in 2009.
So disrespect of government officials seems to be at an all-time high. Perhaps it is time to lower the level of our rhetoric and raise the level of respect for our democratic government by acknowledging that those elected to office were supported by a majority of voters.
While you may disagree with an official, we should all agree to respect their office and their role in our society. They are our leaders, and they struggle to make policy for everyone.
But perhaps our leaders can also contribute to the improvement — first by not trying to be so folksy and "just like the guy/gal next door," in part by continually referring to themselves in a casual manner and tolerating casual references from others. President Obama is widely referred to as "Barack," and our governor calls these public sessions "Meetings with Mark."
While the alliteration is cute, it tends to undermine the dignity and importance of the office. Perhaps referring to future meetings as "Dialogues with Gov. Dayton" would maintain the alliterative qualities without sacrificing the dignity.
