Politicians or citizens?

Most military units have a pledge among one another – no man left behind. The Marines do. The Rangers do. Special Forces do. Any combat unit worthy of calling itself such does. It is a pledge that inspires young men to do their duty. It is a confidence builder that assures one, when he does his duty and things go wrong, his buddies will not abandon him on the field. It is a thing of beauty. Men sacrificing their safety for a buddy who they know would do it for them. It is the essence of the American fighting man – the thing of which heroes who don’t want to be heroes are made. It is the thing that makes a parent, or wife’s suffering bearable – knowing that their loved one laid down his life for others. There is no nobler deed.

Conversely there is no more cowardly deed than pushing your buddy in front of the bullet meant for you or seeking shelter when your friends need you to be firing your weapon. Well it seems to me that that is exactly what is happening with “Republicans” involved in the gang of 12. You know the six Senate “Republican” so-called moderates trying to work out a compromise with Ted Kennedy, Chuck Schumer, Pat Leahy et al. Make no mistake about it, the only thing John McCain and the other “Republicans” are negotiating with Democrats is which of the president’s nominations they are willing to throw overboard.

What is being lost in all of this talk about filibuster and senate rules and “compromise” are the lives of seven people. Accomplished people, successful people, good people whose lives would be models for all of us before the Democrat smear machine set out to destroy them. Big-shot John McCain has stepped in to negotiate which and how many of the seven should be left on the battlefield to appease the Democrat attack machine. Well it’s not about filibusters and rules. It’s about the seven nominees. If McCain and others want to vote against these good people based on their work, that’s fine. There is nothing wrong with that. But, if McCain and his five McCain wannabes are willing to throw 2-3 of the nominees overboard only to achieve a fake amity with Democrats then they are of sufficiently low character to be referred to as politician first, citizen second.