Matters of Church and State

A PARLIAMENT OF WHORES

          That’s the title, if you recall, of a late 1980’s book by satirist P.J. O’Rourke about the meretricious ways of Washington.  It’s a very funny book that takes no prisoners and leaves no stone unturned.  The title came to mind this morning as I was reading news reports on the shameful vote by the U.S. Senate yesterday on gun control legislation.

         This was not representative government at work.  It was a perfect example of the best government money can buy.  The Senators who opposed the bill did not vote the wishes of their constituents because the majority of Americans even in red/gun states are in favor of expanded background checks.

         Before yesterday’s vote, a member of Congress reportedly said that if the vote were secret and behind closed doors the bill would sail through the Senate without a hitch.  Implied is that some members could “not afford” to vote publicly in favor of the legislation.  What a sad commentary.

         Imagine a Senator who voted “no” coming home after the vote yesterday. When his son or daughter asked him how he voted, if he were honest he would have to admit he did not vote his conscience.  He was afraid to vote his conscience -- he might tell his son or daughter – because he might not get elected to another term in the Senate if he did that.  Can you imagine how his children must have reacted?  But, Daddy, you told us to be brave and to stand up and act on principle and do what was right no matter what.  And, Daddy, what about protecting school kids like the ones who were killed at Newtown?

         Okay, a trifle over dramatic, but the larger point is what kind of person with any sense of self-dignity would want a job where you had to leave your conscience at home and vote however influential lobbyists, such as the NRA, told you to vote?  Apparently, a few, if yesterday’s vote is any indication.  Prostitution is the world’s oldest profession and it is not just practiced by poor, unfortunate young women driven to it by circumstances.  It flourishes at the very top of our government by men in pinstripe suits.

         Yesterday’s vote does make you appreciate the political courage of Senators like Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, who put principle ahead of politics and joined a coalition of Senators to cobble together a bipartisan package.  Let’s hope their constituents reward them for their courage and statesmanship.  And, let’s hope that constituents of those who cowardly caved in yesterday will be told by their constituents in 2014 and 2016:  “Sorry, we can’t afford to re-elect you.  We sent you to Washington to vote for our interests and the interests of the American people.  Instead, you put your own interests first.”

         As the President said yesterday, it was a shameful day in Washington, but yesterday’s vote was only Round One.  Someday we’ll get this right.

Jerry