The state of America and politics today are so very different than what existed when Sen. Orrin Hatch was first elected to federal office 42 long years ago.

In his farewell speech on the Senate floor Wednesday, Hatch lamented the current state of the Senate and divisive politics, almost yearning for yesteryear when elected officials could work together regardless of the letter next to their name, as Hatch famously did with Ted Kennedy.

Today that is not so.

Hatch was right as he chided the Senate for adopting new norms like gridlock and abandoning order.

“Keep in mind everything we do here has a trickle-down effect,” Hatch bemoaned. “If we are divided, then the nation is divided. To mend the nation, we must first mend the Senate.”

Federal government is more ineffective as representatives refuse to collaborate, punishing the electorate in the process with government shutdowns, loss of care and services, with the goal of waging death blows to the other side of the aisle all in the name of party.

“How low can you go? The answer is always lower,” Hatch said.

And these days it surely feels that way, as this notion in politics has seeped into other aspects of daily life stripping America of civility it once had. (Though in the Christmas season, we are reminded of the generosity and kindness that can still abide.)

“Our challenge is to rise above the din and divisiveness of today’s politics,” Hatch said Wednesday. “It is to tune out the noise and tune into reason. It is to choose a patience over impulse, and fact over feeling.”

Unfortunately, this is a hard challenge to live up to. Even for Hatch, as he, too, could not accomplish this without incidents during his tenure — using an expletive to describe supporters of Obamacare or shrugging off President Donald Trump’s inappropriate behavior.

But for many of our leaders, it’s do as I say and not as I do. In today’s politics, the means justify the ends.

And, they are human. They are bound to and do indeed make many mistakes. For Utah to keep Hatch in office spanning decades speaks to their confidence in Hatch; or indifference to politics. How many politicians can exit office after 40 years without some major mishap?

The senator, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has prided his career on the legislative work done to protect religious freedom, something very important to his own faith that’s based here in Utah. In his efforts, Hatch delivered highest priority to protecting religious liberty, though in recent years he was vocal about including LGBTQ rights into the equation — needs that still need to be met at the state and federal level. Hatch has cited the Utah Compromise as an example to the nation to follow. The compromise was a huge step forward for Utahns in banning blatant gender discrimination in housing and employment; however events in Utah in the last year prove that we still have strides to make in discrimination and treating different communities fairly.

Perhaps the U.S. senators in attendance on Wednesday will heed Hatch’s challenge to hearken to voices of virtue. We sincerely hope that they do. Do we have faith that they will? Not particularly.

That’s like Hatch asking Cougar and Ute fans to strive for unity. Easy to say while leaving a room, and pretty words, but something that only could have happened before the Holy War ensued.