I suppose I mock the concept a bit here, because too often THE NORMS that concern our sainted senators are pretty silly. Nobody outside of the club thinks the silly rituals are important in and of themselves, and when senators go on about THE WORLD'S GREATEST DELIBERATIVE BODY, eye rolling is both the standard and appropriate response.
Still some basic level of trust does matter. Not BIPARTISANSHIP for its own sake, not compromise for its own sake, not teary tributes to the fact that tipnronnie had beers, but basic lubrication for the gears of discussion.
