Jessica Reeder

Culture is built from the ground up, not the top down. If we want to solve the problems destroying the top level of national politics, we need to start by fixing things here at home.

Don’t get me wrong: Most people in Nevada are good, kind, thoughtful individuals just trying to do right. Many of our representatives, however, are not making us look good. From politicians to journalists, the people we’re allowing to lead our state conversations are too often biased, unfair, unkind and honestly disrespectful of people they’re speaking for. It’s a case of egos run wild — and Nevada, we deserve better.

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Twitter is a good place to spot people’s true colors. If you’ve spent much time there, you’ve probably been subjected to interactions like this one:

Or:

Or:

What’s the deal? Do these guys think we want to see them call each other names? Do they think nobody can read what they’re writing?

Or perhaps they think the only interests they’re representing are their own?

It’s disappointing to say the least, and alarming to watch these dudes (why is it always men!?) slinging epithets and poorly-formed opinions at each other as if they were a bunch of boys on a playground. Well, gentlemen, the playground is the state we all share, and nobody wants to see you sticking your tongues out at each other when there are serious issues at stake.

Honestly, I doubt these guys will ever grow up, since they clearly made it to middle age without learning to act like adults. But for people like you and me, this kind of behavior should be a wake-up call. Are we sure these are the people we want to speak for us? Are these the people who will be able to make tough decisions, to fairly represent the issues without bias, to work together with “the other side” when something needs to happen? Are these the people we want to push up the political ladder?

Yeah, no.

If we let behavior like this continue, we end up with guys like Dean Heller, whose entire platform consists of saying what he thinks people will respond to, then doing whatever he wants. Or like Jon Ralston, who claims to be unbiased but is constantly on the attack.

It takes intelligence and grace to elevate yourself above the mudslinging and petty name-calling — and these guys don’t have what it takes. Nevada, we do have a few representatives who can act like grown-ups, and we need to find more. If we want good behavior to trickle up through the political ranks, we ought to hold our home state representatives to a higher standard.

Jessica Reeder is an author and editor in Northwest Reno.