Profiles in Caution

Recently it has come to light that many of the Republicans in the House secretly admitted that Obama’s stimulus bill was the right direction for government to take and wished for its passage but withheld their support and vote, solely out of the fear of neocon attacks and primary opposition in the next election. Surely not the Hemmingway definition of courage as grace under pressure.

This reaction raises an interesting contrast to the qualities approved of in JFK’s “Profiles in Courage,” where certain politicians decided that doing the right thing was more important than acting solely in their own personal interest and political survival.

This, in turn, brings up an often debated question as to the appropriate role for an elected official, viz. is the official charged with using his own good judgment in the best interests of the people, or is his obligation merely to parrot the loudest or prevailing views of his constituency, however mistaken or misguided this may be ?

The “Profiles in Courage” approach supports “doing the right thing, regardless of contemporary unpopularity and taking the consequences, while acting for the “vox populi” and reflecting solely their will may be a sure path to reelection but does it necessarily lead to good government and well serve the people ?”

When a representative is selected to serve because he has wisdom and experience and is expected to make wise decisions, how are the people served if he is expected to bend to the opinion of the crowd which may be ill-informed, based on bias or just generally wrong ? While consistent disagreement with one’s constituency will surely lead to defeat in the next election, isn’t a representative obligated to do his best while in office, rather than just serve as a mouthpiece or parrot ?

“Party Discipline “ is yet another way of clubbing independent thinkers into conformity as demonstrated in the current case of moderate Republicans not voting their conscience or best judgment for fear of factional reprisal.

Doing right is not always the easy nor the popular thing but isn’t it more important, in the final analysis, than ducking one’s responsibility or acting as a mere puppet to preserve one’s re-elect ability ?