A short time ago, I heard a radio commentator say that a U.S. Senator should do two things when he (or she) votes on bills in Congress:
* take his constituency into account, .and
* vote his conscience.
I have no idea what "take his constituency into account" means. The people in his State overwhelmingly want slavery to be legalized, or a $20 minimum wage, so he should vote for those things? That would make him a participant in mob rule, which is a form of dictatorship, which is not what this country is intended to be.
And what does "vote his conscience" mean? We all have a conscience which tells us what's right and what's wrong? Horsefeathers, we don't! We have no built-in knowledge about anything. Now if that expression means the Senator should vote according to what he believes is the right way to vote, that is a bit better...but shouldn't he vote according to what he KNOWS is the right way to vote?
But that is not going to happen. Because the idea that there are rights and wrongs has vanished from American politics. Truths that are self-evident have become desires that are self-created. Feelings have replaced truths. Politically speaking, if you think it serves your interests, 2 plus 2 is 5, today, and could be 4-1/2 tomorrow.
James Madison said it well:
"There is no maxim, in my opinion, which is more liable to be misapplied, and which, therefore, more needs elucidation, than the current one, that the interest of the majority is the political standard of right and wrong."
Still current.
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