Lori Falce: Chuck Schumer is no Neville Longbottom

Sep. 29—At the end of "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," the benevolent wizard in charge of the magic school took the opportunity to deliver an object lesson.

He upended the annual competition between the school's four houses by delivering a few last-minute points to the main characters for saving the day. Ron and Hermione each got 50 points for their parts, with Harry scoring 60 for defeating the foe. But they didn't win the cup for their house. They only tied things up.

The person who won the day was Neville. He wasn't a great student, except when it came to plants. He forgot things a lot. He was scared, and he was bullied. But in the end, he stood up for the rules and what was right — even though it meant facing off against the people on his own team and losing to them.

"It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies but just as much to stand up to our friends," the headmaster said. "I therefore award ten points to Mr. Neville Longbottom."

This is a lesson for Washington to learn. Indeed, it's a lesson for every politician to take to heart.

Right now, Democrats are learning it with U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., who was indicted and has pleaded not guilty to federal charges in a bribery and corruption scheme involving his wife, three businessmen, the government of Egypt, a Mercedes-Benz, gold bars and piles of cash.

It has been easy for Democrats to sit back and castigate Republicans regarding the charges against Donald Trump, asking why they were not urging him to step back from the 2024 presidential campaign or holding him to account for the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

It was also easy to point and snicker as the GOP tried to figure out just what to do with U.S. Rep. George Santos, who also has been charged with federal crimes including fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds and false statements. The Republican response has been a tepid mixture of encouraging him to resign or ignoring him as much as possible.

But then there is Menendez. It seems like Democrats should have seen this coming. Allegations of corruption are nothing new to him. They came with an ethics complaint in 2006. There was a previous indictment in 2015 regarding a separate set of accused conspirators; the jury was hung, but Menendez was admonished by the Senate ethics committee.

And Democrats largely reacted with shock. U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Braddock, was among the first to call for resignation. That was Saturday, just a day after charges were announced. It took a while for others to join. U.S. House members moved first Monday, but by the time Menendez and his wife pleaded not guilty Wednesday, the dam had broken and more Democratic senators added their calls to the mix, including New Jersey's junior senator, Cory Booker.

Leaders are doing so, like former House speaker Nancy Pelosi and the second-highest ranking Democrat, Sen. Dick Durbin. But Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has yet to take that step.

He should. He should do it not because of peer pressure from an increasingly large portion of his party. He should do it because it's the right thing to do. Schumer will never be the Neville Longbottom of the Senate. Improbably that role goes to 6-foot, 8-inch Fetterman, who has likely never considered himself much like a mousy scaredy-cat in a children's book.

But Schumer can still learn the lesson from that book. While he has never had much of a problem standing up to Republicans and pointing out when the GOP has made a bad move, this is his chance to show that same strength of character with his own party.

It is something both parties need to practice.

Lori Falce is a Tribune-Review community engagement editor. You can contact Lori at lfalce@triblive.com.