MSNBC "The Ed Show" - Transcript
Interview
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
For more, let"s bring in Congressman Jim McDermott of Washington. Congressman, good to have you with us tonight. How shaken were you by this? What kind of a chilling effect has this had on you?
MCDERMOTT: Well, Ed, I"ve known about this for some time and I really haven"t changed my pattern of going out or meeting my constituents or the things that I say. I really believe that, if you believe what you say and you"re willing to stand with it, then you continue to do what you think. I think all of us know who take public office that there are risks, that there are people who are distressed by what you may say or what you may do, but that"s part of the job and many people don"t go into politics because they are unwilling to take that kind of pressure. I think that, it"s like saying to a fireman, don"t go into a burning building because there"s danger in there. When you talk a job, you know what the risks are. And maybe they"re minor or minimal but nevertheless, you know they"re there, and I think you don"t--you can"t back down. If what you believe is what you believe, you say it.
SCHULTZ: You know, some folks think that maybe congressional members should be more calculated and if you vehemently disagree with something, maybe you should do it behind closed doors and maybe not out in the media. It sounds like there"s not that calculation being made by you. You feel very strong that your passions have to be displayed to your constituents?
MCDERMOTT: Well, my job as a representative is to accept the trust of 690,000 people to represent them in Washington, D.C., in the best fashion that I can do it. And I respect that trust and I trust them.
SCHULTZ: Yes.
MCDERMOTT: And I believe that I have to be in contact with them in order to know what they think, and even if they disagree with me, and certainly some people do disagree with me.
SCHULTZ: Sure.
MCDERMOTT: I have to be open to accept that in order to be a good representative because I have to know what everybody thinks.
SCHULTZ: Do you think this is going to be a more intense environment for elected officials? Over on the senate side, the sergeant of arms has told media people that in Congress, the threats over the first three months of 2010, they were up 300 percent. And we know we"ve got a very angry country right now. The--obviously the debates are very heated and some of the moves coming up are very controversial from a lawmaking standpoint. Is this just the way it"s going to be with congressional members?
MCDERMOTT: Well, you know, Ed, maybe the only thing you get out of gray hair is experience but I was at my training back in the 1960s when John Kennedy was assassinated. I was in training in psychiatry in Chicago and there was a huge, huge cry at that point around how we should prevent this kind of thing from happening, and I think at this point, what"s most important is that every public official and the people in general step back, take a breath, and think a little more carefully about what they say and how they say it. I think toning down the rhetoric, bringing down the tension in this society has got to be done from the top but all the people in this society have got to understand.
SCHULTZ: Congressman, you make a great point, but it seems like there are some lawmakers that refuse to do that and the Tea Party has been on record as of late after the shooting that they"re not going to change their rhetoric. What are your thoughts?
MCDERMOTT: Well, I think that"s unfortunate because always in a society, you have people who can"t make distinctions between words and actions.
SCHULTZ: Yes.
MCDERMOTT: I"m talking about adults. It"s common with children. We know about what violence on television does to children, but it happens in adults who have not matured sufficiently. And you have to be careful what you say because some people take those words as directions to do something.
SCHULTZ: Congressman Jim McDermott, good to have you with us tonight.
Thanks so much.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source