Loren Lippincott
As I write this column two legislative colleagues are having their actions brought forward by the legislative body as to whether they should be disciplined or even expelled from the legislature. This has caused me to evaluate our method of “policing” ourselves, asking whether we truly are or are not our brother’s keeper.
Each of us is accountable to those around us, whether it’s our school, our family, a business or any other relationship. There is imprinted within us a “code of ethics” called the conscience that should guide our conduct. Sometimes that code gets muddied for many reasons. Some of those reasons can be our own skewed desire to be liked, or our attempt to “fight windmills” or “march to the beat of a different drummer” (not always wrong, but different from the norm).
But when someone’s behavior steps over the line of what is reasonable and prudent, what is our responsibility in addressing that person’s blind spot(s)? Three questions should usually be asked before exhorting another person: Do I have all the facts? Is it my responsibility? Is it the right timing? It is rare to be able to answer all three in the affirmative, but when we can it is important to be involved in the other person’s life.
We all need other people. The illustration of a horse pulling a plow shows the advantage of synergy and teamwork. One horse can pull 9,000 pounds, but two horses can pull 27,000 pounds — a 50 percent increase in horsepower by working together. In my capitol office I have a makeshift weight bench. One member of my staff (who was Nebraska’s high school touchdown leader three years ago) and I will occasionally lift weights together over the noon hour. Why? Because we do our best when we push each other.
I say the above to ask myself and my colleagues, have we done our best to approach the individuals in question and help them be their best? Scripture lays out a guideline for how to confront someone who is “coloring outside the lines.” Step one is go and tell them their error directly. If they listen, good, if not take one or two others with you. If they do not listen to you when confronted by the small group, then elevate it to the body they belong to.
At Delta Air Lines, where I worked for 30 years, management made it clear that lying or stealing would not be forgiven, and normally a person would be fired for either of those infractions. However, in other areas if you confessed your error and showed an earnest desire to make a course correction you would often be forgiven. I once heard a preacher say, “There will be guilt, anxiety and uncertainty until there is confession and restoration.” True in church, true in business!
In the many emails I have received over these personnel issues, I have heard calls to expel one but not the other (mostly along party lines). It’s interesting to note that both parties are facing the same level of infractions (third degree misdemeanors). I am reminded of our state motto which is “Equality before the Law!” Lady Justice is supposed to be blind.
Clearly leadership, or the lack of it, in a body can lead to poor discipline. There are two pillars to maturity — discipline and restraint. We need discipline to do and restraint to keep from doing. I have discovered in this job (and the older I get) the value of restraint. It seems the less I talk, the further ahead I get. In the cases of poor judgment now before the body, both could have been avoided through personal restraint.
The actions of these legislators are being addressed in legislative resolutions that get heard before a committee which will then vote whether or not to advance them to the floor. The body can then vote to expel (boot the person from the legislature for good) or censure, resulting in one day away from the floor. A third option is to issue a letter of reprimand which is kept on file for any future infractions.
Loren Lippincott represents Legislative District 34 in the Nebraska State Senate. Read his column in the Nance County Journal.