American tradition

By Mary Fahnestock-Thomas, Hamilton

Is there any tradition more American than the renegade who does The Right Thing?

I was hoping for 4-5 of that sort among the Republican senators in DC, so that the impeachment “trial” would have to include witnesses and documents and no longer be the sham it became. (“Okay, he’s guilty but not THAT guilty.”)

Remember the 1939 movie “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” with Jimmy Stewart? It was based on a fictional Montana senator who went to our nation’s capitol and bucked a corrupt system. 

It ends happily except for the corrupt politicians. Can that sort of thing even happen here anymore?

You can argue that there can be different opinions about just what The Right Thing is, but doesn’t it come down to either integrity or power and money? Yes, both are American traditions, but there comes a time to choose.