On impeachment vote, Romney wasn't the only principled one. Thank a red-state Democrat.
“Courage” is one of those heavyweight words, like “obscenity.” Paraphrasing a former Supreme Court justice’s take on the latter: We generally know it when we see it.
I believe I might have gotten a glimpse of courage, or what it might have looked like 100 years ago during the Great War, thanks to the mud, guts and blood that came gushing forth during a recent viewing of Sam Mendes’ exceptional, heartbreaking film “1917.”
In this piece, the taste of war, and the price, come across as all too real.
Brilliantly shot by cinematographer Roger Deakins, “1917” tells the story of two young British soldiers who are sent across the trench and stench of the Western Front, and litter of dead horses, to deliver a message that might save the lives of thousands. Chances are, as one lieutenant reminds them, they won’t make it.
As I watched that movie, battling my own vertigo all the way, I considered the thought that sometimes we need to be reminded of what courage looks like.
I was reminded of it again this week, as the Senate took its final votes to “acquit” President Donald Trump on two articles of impeachment — abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
I was reminded in stands taken and votes cast in favor by two men, in particular: Sen. Mitt Romney, Republican from Utah, who described Trump’s conduct as “grievously wrong,” and Sen. Doug Jones, Democrat from Alabama, who will now almost certainly lose his seat in that “red” state come fall.
Standing up against your peers
Trump, in his ever so thuggish way, has already taken to punishing impeachment witnesses and verbally attacking Romney for being the only principled Republican to break ranks, and indeed the first U.S. senator in history to vote to convict a president from his own party.
“I will tell my children and their children that I did my duty to the best of my ability, believing that my country expected it of me,” said Romney, who voted to convict only on the abuse of power charge.
As for Jones, he was a hero long before he took an oath to serve in what was once known as the most deliberative parliamentary body in the world, and long before he cast his votes to convict Trump on both charges.
Indeed, while serving as a U.S. attorney in Alabama in the late 1990s, Jones brought to justice two white men, Ku Klux Klan members Thomas Edwin Blanton and Bobby Frank Cherry, for their roles in the 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham that killed four little black girls.
Wiping out the weaker candidates: In New Hampshire primary, could Pete Buttigieg end Joe Biden’s 50-year political career?
Jones has looked straight into the eye of pure evil, without blinking, so we know something of his heart.
“Senators are elected to make tough choices,” Jones said. “We are required to study the facts of each issue before us and exercise our independent judgment in keeping with the oaths we take.”
Later, in his own speech on the Senate floor, Jones said Trump’s actions “were more than simply inappropriate. They were an abuse of power.”
Two other moderate Democrats, Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, also stuck to their principles and voted to convict, despite possible political repercussions back home.
So yes, before we close this chapter in history, let us preserve the names for posterity: Romney, Jones, Manchin and Sinema. Three Democrats, one Republican. When everything was on the line, they voted their conscience, placing principle over political convenience, putting institution over personal welfare.
They stood up for the best ideals this nation can offer, and in so doing have reminded us, once more, what courage looks like.
Bruce Lowry is the opinion editor for NorthJersey.com, where this column originally appeared. Twitter: @brucelowry21
You can read diverse opinions from our Board of Contributors and other writers on the Opinion front page, on Twitter @usatodayopinion and in our daily Opinion newsletter. To respond to a column, submit a comment to letters@usatoday.com.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Impeachment: Romney, red-state Democrats risk their seats, reputation
