Bill Press: Courage in the Congress

In 1957, then-Massachusetts Sen. John F. Kennedy startled the political and publishing worlds with his book Profiles in Courage, featuring brief biographies of eight U.S. senators, Democrats and Republicans, who had shown great grit in standing up to pressure and casting tough votes. The book shot to the top of the best-seller list and snared the Pulitzer Prize for Biography.

Sadly, the idea that any senator would demonstrate courage in the line of fire now seems almost quaint. 

{mosads}Today’s politicians are known, instead, for their lack of courage. Most often, they delay taking a stand on any issue and then end up taking no stand at all. When they dare cast a vote, it’s dictated not by their conscience but by what party leaders, or the latest public opinion poll, are telling them to do.

That’s why we see no action on immigration reform, tax reform, income inequality, climate change or any other pressing issues facing the nation. Nor has there been any vote to authorize a war that has already been underway for seven months. Congress can’t even come together on important matters like the transportation bill, the farm bill, raising the minimum wage or passing a budget — matters that used to be routinely authorized with overwhelming bipartisan support.

Ah, but hope springs eternal! Evidence of political backbone was nowhere to be found — until last week, when seven Republican senators defied their party leadership by refusing to sign a poorly conceived, hastily drafted, factually wrong, diplomatically tone-deaf and politically boneheaded letter drafted by freshman Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) to the supreme leader of Iran. 

All together now, let us thereby award the 2015 Profiles in Courage Award to Sens. Bob Corker and Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Thad Cochran of Mississippi, Dan Coats of Indiana, Jeff Flake of Arizona and Susan Collins of Maine, the only seven Republican senators who refused to sign Cotton’s treasonous letter, which has since been widely condemned by almost every editorial board in the country, including that of The Wall Street Journal. 

In truth, it wouldn’t take much to win a Profiles in Courage Award in this Congress. All the seven senators did before deciding to sign the letter was what we would expect any senator to do: take the time to read it; weigh the possible blowback; consider the proper role of the Congress and the president in conducting foreign policy; and think twice before going over the president’s head and appealing directly to the enemy. 

Nothing extraordinary. But that’s what passes for courage in the current Congress.

The true cowards are the 46 Republicans who did sign Cotton’s letter, including veteran Sens. Mitch McConnell (Ky.), John Cornyn (Texas), Orrin Hatch (Utah), John McCain (Ariz.), Lindsey Graham (S.C.), Rob Portman (Ohio), Richard Shelby (Ala.) and Jeff Sessions (Ala.). Collectively, they have hundreds of years’ experience in the Senate. Yet they hate President Obama so much, they gladly ignored their decades of experience to follow the lead of a man who’d only been in the Senate 63 days. 

Seven profiles in courage; 47 profiles in cowardice.

Press is host of “The Bill Press Show” on Free Speech TV and author of The Obama Hate Machine.