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July 27, 2005
Political courage
I hope everyone reading this had the opportunity to be taught by at least one teacher that changed your view of the world. I had a two like that. Both of them were history professors and one of them did an amazing job of putting you into the mindset of the era. One class in particular was an American history class called Colonization to Constitution.
It's the little things about our founders that I find the most fascinating and it's those things that most people don't consider. Like what liberty meant to them. What life was like in England. What it meant to come here and have so much land available. The fact that George Washington could have stayed in power but chose not to.
I had the opportunity to hear Jim Andrews speak yesterday over lunch at the Downtown Democrats group. Something he said reminded me of that professor, and the things I'd been saying about the Rebel flag in Maryville, that the men that signed the Declaration of Independence were signing their death warrants. This was treason and only because we won did they become heroes. If they had lost you'd have a guy like me blogging today that these people were traitorous rebels against Mother England and it's not a heritage we should be proud of.
Jim was making a point about political courage and that you wouldn't find a politician today willing to stick their neck out for something they believed in if it meant they'd lose their office, let alone their life.
Posted by Paul Witt at July 27, 2005 11:22 AM
Comments
Good point.
politician = no balls
Too bad. Most of it seems to be connected to the cowering and crawling to the corporate money masters.
Hell, I even married one of those teachers who changes kid's lives for the better and have never regretted it.
Posted by: gonzone at July 28, 2005 02:32 PM
Paul said, "Jim was making a point about political courage and that you wouldn't find a politician today willing to stick their neck out for something they believed in if it meant they'd lose their office, let alone their life."
I believe George Bush did that in his first term. Your side said that he would lose the election because he stood up for what he believed in. I am pretty sure that like his father there is a bounty on his head.
Duncan from here in Knoxville (Conservative most the time) voted against President Bush going to war in Iraq. A political gamble here in East Tennessee.
Maybe Jim was just referring to Democrats.
Posted by: Ron Rockstar at July 29, 2005 10:20 AM
George only gambles with other people's lives and money, not his own. Polish a lot of knobs there rockstar?
Posted by: gonzone at August 1, 2005 02:51 PM
Political courage is like when President Bill Clinton who legally lived in the White House showed great grace under pressure as Ken Starr and Republicans and every high priced lawyer they could find were doing everything they could to harrass him and destroy him with the help of the professional experts in the media who have all the power to destroy a person's life and career.
Contrast that to run Robert run as Novak exits before anyone can ask him about his crimes and sins.
Nevertheless we Democrats have little else to crow about because it would take a William Faulkner to chronicle the debth of misdeeds of the outrageous Republicans and what they are doing and are getting away with and yet no Democrat makes so much as a squeek about what they are doing.
Can you imagine what republicans would do with the British Memo or with the illegal outting of an undercover agent if Democrats were the guilty ones? Remember "wag the dog" and accusing President Clinton of diverting attention when he went after bin laden or after what happened in Somolia? We don't have Democrats we have Joe Lieberman and millionarire businessmen like John Kerry who represented no opposition to Bush's agenda in committing a holocaust against Iraqis and Afganies.
There are no democrats to show political courage anymore.
Posted by: julycanute at August 6, 2005 02:45 PM
"legally lived" and I read no further.
Posted by: Ron Rockstar at August 8, 2005 12:15 PM