Where Have All The Statesmen Gone?
- Lucian@going2paris.net
- Apr 17, 2023
- 1 min read
Charlottesville
April 17, 2023
I have found myself revisiting the Watergate hearings after watching a documentary about Richard Nixon. For all his diplomat successes, Nixon is described in the documentary as having quite an inferiority complex that led him to maintain an enemies list and surround himself with people who viewed the ends justified the means. That was my takeaway.
I had a more optimistic takeaway from watching a portion of the Watergate hearings. What has most impressed me is the statesmanship of the senators on the committee. These senators checked their partisanship at the door and performed their job in service to the country -- again, my opinion. In my opinion, they were statesmen. (Granted, this role made have been made easier by the over-the-top nature of Watergate.
Who are our statesmen today, carrying out their oath to serve the country, not just their party? Romney? They seem as rare as Paula Cole's cowboys.
Lucian - My take is we no longer have a common vision for the future of the nation. As late as the 1970's both political parties and most Americans shared a common vision of the country. There was a strong belief in limited government, individual freedom, free market capitalism, belief in a supreme being (God), personal accountability for one's actions and behavior, limited intervention in the affairs of other nations, respect for other people no matter their beliefs, a desire to move to a "color blind" society where people were judged by their character, welfare as a safety net and not a lifestyle, respect for the elderly, belief in the sanctity of marriage and a two parent household, and beli…