<mediadc-video-embed data-state="{"cms.site.owner":{"_ref":"00000161-3486-d333-a9e9-76c6fbf30000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b93390000"},"cms.content.publishDate":1655689321293,"cms.content.publishUser":{"_ref":"00000162-07b6-de22-a173-2ffe05de0001","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"cms.content.updateDate":1655689321293,"cms.content.updateUser":{"_ref":"00000162-07b6-de22-a173-2ffe05de0001","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"rawHtml":"
var _bp = _bp||[]; _bp.push({ "div": "Brid_55502841", "obj": {"id":"27789","width":"16","height":"9","video":"1035212"} }); ","_id":"00000181-7ec5-dd13-a9fb-7eefb5230000","_type":"2f5a8339-a89a-3738-9cd2-3ddf0c8da574"}”>Video EmbedI am very sorry to hear of the death of Mark Shields, whose career I followed, literally — I started as a campaign consultant after he did, then as a Washington Post editorial writer, then as an opinion column writer.
Mark was his own inimitable person, ebullient and full of good humor but outraged by injustices and by cheap shots, always with a good word for the little people who make our political system and our society work. We worked together on campaigns, schmoozed in pre-internet days about the latest political news and rumors, and tried to understand the political history we were privileged to witness and play some part in.
As a footnote to the many tributes he is receiving, let me mention just one lesson he taught that people on all sides of the political battle lines should keep in mind. Call people the names they call themselves. It set his teeth on edge when Republicans referred to “the Democrat party.” Democrats use the adjective Democratic, and whatever you think of the world’s oldest political party, you should, too.
During the 1988 presidential campaign, CBS News anchor Dan Rather habitually referred to the Republican vice presidential nominee as “J. Danforth Quayle.” That was one version of his full name, which commemorated one of his father’s friends who did not come back from World War II. But it was not the name Quayle had used in his political career. “The man’s name is Dan Quayle,” Mark said.
Civility starts with calling people by the names they prefer. Mark Shields, for all his happy warrior partisanship, believed in and practiced civility. It’s a lesson worth remembering.
