Do The Right Thing

Recent post from The Midwest Peace Process:

In this recent episode of The Daily Show, New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand said (at 4:40 in the clip):

“Some issues are not Democratic issues or Republican issues.  Sometimes you just have to do the right thing.”

And although her quote received enthusiastic applause from the audience, it is, unfortunately, dead wrong.  I’ll admit that the sentiment behind what she said is appealing, but I have to take issue with her choice of words.  Sometimes? We only have to do the right thing, sometimes?  Perhaps, if given the chance, she would like to restate that.  Because if not, what she is actually saying is that most of the time we (Republicans and Democrats) are all just playing our roles on the political stage, and it is only in times when the theater is actually on fire that we must end the show and ask everyone to move to the exits.  Otherwise, we continue to play our roles, and do the *wrong* thing when the script calls for it.

No, I don’t believe that there are times when “you just have to do the right thing” – that is *all* the time.  If you aren’t doing the right thing, and you know that you aren’t, then what does that make you?