Where’s the Outrage?

Is it payback or a dangerous trend in American Politics?  You Decide...

Picture this:

I want you to imagine a very elderly man. He is a man that has served his area for decades. He is respected. He helped create the company he directly works for.

Put this man in a position of power. Give him an office that he earned from years of working hard for his neighbors. Make him an educated man, one who walks slowly but speaks with the benefit of years of experience in his voice.

Now, have him face a threat for his job. See all of this elderly man’s life work threatened by a movement that has chosen to take on unfair and unethical tactics to remove him. The old man may lose his job through no fault of his own as the board voting to keep him is reacting to statements and rumors that don’t seem to be 100% true.

See him in court over these rumors and innuendos. As he tries to prove his case and defend his legacy, the prosecution often refuses to tell the truth and hand over key pieces of information – moves that could have proven the elderly man’s innocence. The judge rules against the man, costing him his job and his dignity. Embarrassed on a national scale, he loses his faith in the courts and in our nation.

Months later, the man finds out that he was wronged by the prosecution’s misconduct. Vindication may come from the courts, but he probably will never get his job back and his reputation will be tainted forever.

Where is the justice? How could this happen? Aren’t you outraged?

Now, make him Republican.

This exercise comes from the movie “A Time to Kill”, but it highlights a real-life story of politics in 21st century Americans. Now, how will we respond? Will the story of former US Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) losing a close election based on charges that were dismissed end up being a strange footnote in American history or a call to justice that the country will get behind?