Few of us have much respect for politicians these days.
Yet to lump all politicians in that same basket of "discontent" would be wrong, as now and again a politician will remind us of the job we sent them forth to do with our vote in the first place.
U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak is one such example of a politician willing to risk power and clout to instead stand firm in a conviction he feels strongly about. Stupak last week put his fellow House Democrats on notice that he was uncomfortable about language remaining in the health care reform bill concerning federal funding for abortion and until it was removed, he couldn't support the bill.
With the Obama administration needing every vote it can garner in support of the legislation, losing a Democrat like Stupak would be hard for party leaders to accept.
Stupak understands a stand such as his might ultimately lose him a committee assignment or support for legislation he is after. That's OK, as some things are worth standing firm for, and Stupak believes the sanctity of life is one of those.
"It's been my position for 20 years," Stupak said in an Alpena News story last week. "I've always been a right-to-life Democrat."
We respect those convictions and happen to agree with them. Even if we didn't, however, we'd still respect Stupak for taking a stand against what would have been popular.
It's nice to know conviction isn't a lost quality in D.C. after all.
The Alpena News