Courage

Since I started keeping closer track of politics in 2004, I’ve heard people talk about courage but I’ve never really seen any. Until now.

On the national front we have lived through a period so devoid of political courage that we have to face the fact that America is not the country we grew up believing that it was.

If Joe Biden had political courage and the guts to say “No. This war is wrong.” it is quite possible that given his stature in the Senate we would not be in Iraq right now.

If Michael Castle had political courage and the guts to say “No Mr. President. You can’t use the tragedy of September 11th for narrow political gain for our party.” we might be defending human dignity and justice in the world right now instead of being the world’s leading exporter of misery and injustice.

That Biden and Castle are lacking in courage is sad but not surprising. They were raised in a system that reduces everything to “politics” and values cunning and calculation over everything. So it is all the more important to recognize acts of political courage when they come around.

No matter what you think about John Atkins, the GOP or “politics”. Dave Burris has demonstrated a level of courage that demands not just recognition, but in light of current poverty of courage – admiration.

I’m proud that Dave considers me a friend.