devotio

Michael Bennet, a freshman senator from Colorado, recently affirmed in an interview on CNN that he will vote for health care reform even at the risk of losing his job.

Let's ignore for the moment that voting for health care will likely improve his chances for re-election in 2010, as noted (rather subtly) at the end of the article. The question itself was phrased in such a way that had he said anything other than "yes", he would have openly admitted to putting concern for his job over the best interests of his constituents. In other words, any other politician would have said the same thing.

Bottom line: Bennet's answer doesn't amount to much of a sacrifice, and it should not be advertised as such.

Of course, propaganda of this sort isn't likely to change anytime soon ever. It seems Ambrose Bierce hit upon something timeless when he defined politics as "a strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles; the conduct of public affairs for private advantage." But the media should do better than falsely promoting politicians like this.

Oh, for the days when self-sacrifice meant dedicating yourself to the gods, throwing yourself at the enemy, and to hell with you if you survived!