One more time, U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse sought to play the role of a professorial in-house critic to the Senate, making a farewell address Tuesday that decried “performative yelling” and extreme partisanship from “prophets of despair” on the left and right.
“We seem to be on a foolhardy path of trading the vigor of civic pluralism and consensus building with the disease of my-way-or-the-highway political zealotry,” Sasse said. “But we get distracted by the differing flavors of the zealotry. We get captivated by the declining brands, Republican and Democrat.”
Sasse, a Republican from Nebraska, is leaving the Senate two years into his second term. He resigned, effective Sunday, to become president of the University of Florida. While critiquing the Senate and urging it to do better in Tuesday’s speech, Sasse did not delve into why he is not staying for the rest of his term to help.
A solid conservative Republican vote throughout his eight years in the Senate, Sasse ran afoul of former President Donald Trump during and after his presidency. Sasse referred Tuesday to criticism from Nebraska Republicans after he was one of seven GOP senators to vote in favor of convicting Trump for inciting an insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021.
“Our wrestling together, Nebraskans and me over the last eight years, has had some marked ups and downs, as you gave me victories in all 93 counties when I ran for office the very first time in my life in 2014 and then made me the most censured public official in the history of Nebraska over the next six years,” Sasse said. “But then proceeded two years ago to reelect me again, again winning all 93 counties.”
He said his relationship with Nebraskans felt many times “like a noogie, and a slap, and a headbutt, and a hug all at once.”
On brand, Sasse peppered his speech with analogies and allusions both lofty and low. He quoted something he said a constituent wrote to him this week: “Let’s hope that someday the electorate kicks the Senate out of its extended puberty by letting folks know that mooning each other really isn’t that cool.”
Sasse called the U.S. House of Representatives battle over who will be the new speaker “the crap show that’s happening on the other end of the building right now.”
“Nancy Pelosi’s party quite obviously lost a referendum on the stewardship of the House of Representatives 60 days ago, but no one won, least of all Kevin McCarthy,” Sasse said. “Nobody in America is crying out for ambition for ambition’s sake.”
He said “false prophets of power” and “prophets of despair” on both the right and left are telling Americans similar stories for similar reasons.
“They salivate on the idea of chaos in our disrupted age that can be the excuse for seizing more power,” Sasse said. “They foment anger and fear because they think if we’re angry and scared enough, we’ll assent to some Caesar-ous solution.”
The Senate, he said, has a special role to play in American recovery by supporting local institutions, but it is not working well. Sasse said much of what passes for debate in the Senate is “performative yelling” aimed at landing appearances on cable television shows.
“So much of the performative BS that happens around here is about getting invited on shows that don’t have an audience,” Sasse said. “These small narrowly targeted programs run on outrage. It is info-tainment fuel. Nobody goes viral for talking about policy trade-offs. And hardly anyone gets booked for a nuanced debate. It is performative, and it’s beneath the calling of those called to serve in this place.”
He urged moderation, though not necessarily in policy.
“We need a Senate that is characterized by tonal and dispositional moderation,” Sasse said. “And tonal and dispositional moderation flows chiefly from humility, and wisdom, and from an awareness that we are ensouled and that souls cannot be coerced.”
Sasse said there are three “immense and enduring reasons for our hope: the Constitution, our institutions, and most fundamentally the people themselves.”
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“We seem to be on a foolhardy path of trading the vigor of civic pluralism and consensus building with the disease of my-way-or-the-highway political zealotry,” Sasse said. “But we get distracted by the differing flavors of the zealotry. We get captivated by the declining brands, Republican and Democrat.”
Sasse, a Republican from Nebraska, is leaving the Senate two years into his second term. He resigned, effective Sunday, to become president of the University of Florida. While critiquing the Senate and urging it to do better in Tuesday’s speech, Sasse did not delve into why he is not staying for the rest of his term to help.
A solid conservative Republican vote throughout his eight years in the Senate, Sasse ran afoul of former President Donald Trump during and after his presidency. Sasse referred Tuesday to criticism from Nebraska Republicans after he was one of seven GOP senators to vote in favor of convicting Trump for inciting an insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021.
“Our wrestling together, Nebraskans and me over the last eight years, has had some marked ups and downs, as you gave me victories in all 93 counties when I ran for office the very first time in my life in 2014 and then made me the most censured public official in the history of Nebraska over the next six years,” Sasse said. “But then proceeded two years ago to reelect me again, again winning all 93 counties.”
He said his relationship with Nebraskans felt many times “like a noogie, and a slap, and a headbutt, and a hug all at once.”
On brand, Sasse peppered his speech with analogies and allusions both lofty and low. He quoted something he said a constituent wrote to him this week: “Let’s hope that someday the electorate kicks the Senate out of its extended puberty by letting folks know that mooning each other really isn’t that cool.”
Sasse called the U.S. House of Representatives battle over who will be the new speaker “the crap show that’s happening on the other end of the building right now.”
“Nancy Pelosi’s party quite obviously lost a referendum on the stewardship of the House of Representatives 60 days ago, but no one won, least of all Kevin McCarthy,” Sasse said. “Nobody in America is crying out for ambition for ambition’s sake.”
He said “false prophets of power” and “prophets of despair” on both the right and left are telling Americans similar stories for similar reasons.
“They salivate on the idea of chaos in our disrupted age that can be the excuse for seizing more power,” Sasse said. “They foment anger and fear because they think if we’re angry and scared enough, we’ll assent to some Caesar-ous solution.”
The Senate, he said, has a special role to play in American recovery by supporting local institutions, but it is not working well. Sasse said much of what passes for debate in the Senate is “performative yelling” aimed at landing appearances on cable television shows.
“So much of the performative BS that happens around here is about getting invited on shows that don’t have an audience,” Sasse said. “These small narrowly targeted programs run on outrage. It is info-tainment fuel. Nobody goes viral for talking about policy trade-offs. And hardly anyone gets booked for a nuanced debate. It is performative, and it’s beneath the calling of those called to serve in this place.”
He urged moderation, though not necessarily in policy.
“We need a Senate that is characterized by tonal and dispositional moderation,” Sasse said. “And tonal and dispositional moderation flows chiefly from humility, and wisdom, and from an awareness that we are ensouled and that souls cannot be coerced.”
Sasse said there are three “immense and enduring reasons for our hope: the Constitution, our institutions, and most fundamentally the people themselves.”
Ben Sasse decries zealotry and "mooning each other" in farewell Senate speech
U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse gave a farewell speech Tuesday that reflected his eight-year role as a professorial in-house critic to the Senate, criticizing "performative yelling" and extreme partisanship.
