Wyden touts the virtues of 'chutzpah' in new book

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) says Congress sometimes resembles a "poorly produced WWE wrestling match," and getting the House and Senate out of the ring and working together is going to take a whole lot of chutzpah. 

The Oregon Democrat urges a call to action in his first book, "It Takes Chutzpah: How to Fight Fearlessly for Progressive Change," released this week. 

Chutzpah, which is derived from Yiddish, Wyden said in an interview with ITK, describes the "story of America."

"I consider it being bold, having nerve, being willing to take on long odds," the ranking member on the Senate Finance Committee, said.

"No matter what your field, chutzpah can give you a chance to have a better life," he added.

Part memoir and part motivational guide, the book details the "12 Ron's Rules of Chutzpah," which includes advice such as "Pay attention to your friend, because they can be far more unpredictable than your enemies," and "Leading is coaching: You've got to bring people and ideas together around a shared goal."

"I went to a school on a basketball scholarship, dreaming of playing in the NBA," the 6'4" lawmaker — who writes in his book that he avoids "back seats like the plague" due to his "gangly legs." Leading and coaching, Wyden noted, "go hand in hand."

"I learned from my coach how to find ways to lead in areas that I'm doing now in public service," he said.

What his inaugural literary effort is not, Wyden said, is an attempt to "grease my run for President of the United States."

"Reducing health-care costs, shoring up Medicare and Social Security, closing the massive loopholes that enable billionaires to avoid paying taxes, and reining in the surveillance state from tracking law-abiding Americans — if you're running for President there are political reasons not to address these issues, and I have liberated myself from that straitjacket," the senator writes in the book.

While Wyden, who was first elected to the Senate in 1996, utilizes chutzpah as a guiding philosophy, he also said it can take on a negative form.

"Chutzpah can be bad. You can be a bully," Wyden said.

In his book, he writes of President-elect Trump and others: "The best term for their arrogant contempt for beneficial social norms and actions is a purely American word, easily identifiable in both public and private life: bulls---."

"People will say, 'You have chutzpah,' but that's not the kind of chutzpah we want to promote," Wyden said.

Congress, he writes, is "overpopulated with grifters and gamblers, political-machine hacks and idiot nephews, glory hounds and womanizers."

"We're all flawed — those who put themselves out there to run for office are inherently flawed," he added.

"For all its defects, the U.S. Congress has managed this complicated tango with history and our diverse citizenry far better than any other legislature in any other democracy — the indecorous mudslinging, stuntsmanship, and blather notwithstanding," the Oregon senator writes.

Ultimately, Wyden said chutzpah can help not just his colleagues at the Capitol, but all Americans, build better lives for themselves.

Chutzpah, he continued, is "an indispensable instrument for making America a better place."