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Input: Against this backdrop emerged one of the more heartening stories of late  a reminder that beneath our ideological differences lies a common humanity and a shared commitment to make this nation a better place to live  even if we disagree profoundly on how to go about it. I'm referring to the grace and eloquence that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi demonstrated last week at the U.S. Capitol ceremony to unveil the statue of former President Ronald Reagan.
 Pelosi did not just go through the motions. She spoke of the late president's appreciation for bipartisanship and civility  and his sense of humor. She noted that his statue contained chunks of the Berlin Wall  a "symbol of his commitment to national security and his success." She credited former first lady Nancy Reagan for her role in her husband's achievements  as well as for the impact of her advocacy of stem-cell research.
 Pelosi was obviously aware of all that  yet she saw fit to recognize the moment -- and the reality that the California Legislature had approved the statue replacement with just one dissenting vote -- with class and perspective.
 The contrast of the Reagan ceremony with the tone of contemporary politics could not have been more striking. PelosiPelosi herself has been a target of an overwrought Republican campaign to discredit her as a "hypocrite" because she failed to speak out about the Bush administration's plans to waterboard terrorist suspects after supposedly being briefed in 2002. So let's get this straight: The Bush gang stretches the law to authorize and inflict torture  and the most vigorous supporters of that policy want to deflect the heat on Pelosi  who -- even if she did remain silent after classified briefings -- clearly opposes the practice? It's a twisted political world.
 As Pelosi noted in her citation of Reagan's friendship with one of her predecessors as speaker -- Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill  a proud lion of New Deal liberalism -- there is something special  something very American  about transcending partisanship on a human level  and of respecting ideological differences. These values too often get lost in the furor of modern political warfare.

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