jenk

This nice thought is courtesy of Representative Jim Ramstad, a Republican from Minnesota:

“If we could turn Congress into one big A.A. meeting,” he said, referring to Alcoholics Anonymous, “where people would be required to say what they mean and mean what they say, it would be a lot better Congress.”
- From an interview in the NY Times

I don't doubt it. But then, my impression is that AA meetings are meant to be apart from the normal rules of life and tact. (Although I wouldn't mind if political speech included some relationship to truth ... or tact ... ;)

Bonus: Miss Manners, on "What are the rules for passing on private email?":

For email, the old postcard rule applies. Nobody else is supposed to read your postcards, but you'd be a fool if you wrote anything private on one. [...] We're now seeing email that people thought they had deleted showing up as evidence in court. You can't erase email. As that becomes more commonly realized, people will be a little wiser about what they type.

In the business world, some emails are 100% work documents and you expect forwarding at will; others are obstensibly "private", but still, postcard rule definitely applies.

In private life, I feel private email should not be forwarded or posted publically without express permission. I reserve the right to be angry with anyone who does so. And yet... I've discussed email I've received with my spouse, and in once case publically - and I forwarded that one later without permission. If it was relevant, I could see turning it over to a lawyer.

I guess, if business email is a postcard, personal email is a letter.

Later in the interview:

We have two regulatory systems: legal and etiquette. The legal system prevents us from killing each other. The etiquette system prevents us from driving each other crazy.
- From an interview in Wired