he was a longest-serving member of
Congress in history and long known as
the Dean of the US House the younger
generation may know John Dingell for his
razor-sharp wit on Twitter these days
but after almost 60 years in Congress
you can bet he has his fair share of
stories and he's telling them we have to
work even knowing that John Dingell is
92 years old you can struggle to grasp
the history for which he's been both
observer and participant a congressional
page when Winston Churchill delivered an
address to Congress and yes he was there
when Franklin Roosevelt said yesterday
December 7 1941 a date which will live
in infamy yes by definition the
longest-serving congressman in US
history will have seen a lot he seems to
remember it all and of course it's
enough to fill a book the foreword is
written by a Republican President George
Herbert Walker Bush who describes you as
being a dear friend but also says John
could be a tough negotiator but he was
always fair and always willing to listen
which might be another lost art these
days I think people spend a lot of time
thinking about that idea of civility and
collegiality last week as we said
goodbye to President Bush what has
happened to that he's gone and in part
is the occupant of the White House and
in part it is people who simply have no
longer an interest in doing the
negotiations of our country's business
that way it's a great shame because it
is something that is necessary for a
society to work he returns off into that
dilemma that in our polarized nation the
two polls don't speak enough to one
another a 59 year career in Congress
will of course have a few mistakes
he writes about his regret for not
supporting the Equal Rights Amendment
and gay marriage but he takes great
pride in
for civil rights clean air and water and
for healthcare there is a classic
Democrat in Dingell of course he
bristles when he hears someone
complained that government doesn't do
anything well he says he's reminded all
the time that good government can change
lives for the better we are alive
because you made automobile safe or the
air clean those are things only be done
by the government and you can't do them
if you say oh we're gonna trust
corporation XYZ to do this thing to
clean it up that's not how it's done
when we relied on corporations to do
those things some of his prescriptions
for progress are rather nuclear doing
away with the electoral college
even doing away with the US Senate where
he believes small states hold out size
power but most powerful he believes is
returning to the idea of consensus in
the book he writes the cancer of
cynicism eating away at our country can
be cured only when we trust one another
again which he believes starts not in
Washington but everywhere else decide
that this is a society which is worse
worth keeping we are all fair holders in
the greatest corporation in the history
of mankind the history of mankind you
talk to him for a while you know he
believes that he tells such riveting
stories it is the best seat in the house
the Dean by John Dingell and David
bender and it's out from Harper right
now there's probably four or five books
in all of that managed to boil it down
to this one and it's nice to see him
doing well I know he had some health
problems earlier this year and always
razor-sharp Twitter