Will I Be Praised... or Fileted?

That was the question that crossed my mind as I wrote – and prepared to publish – an article titled, “Why a Conservative Republican Is Paying Tribute to a Progressive Democrat”. The article was about William Jennings Bryan, a 3-time Democratic candidate for president in 1896, 1900, and 1908.

Far more importantly, at least to me, Bryan was an evangelical Christian and a man of unquestioned integrity. A gifted orator, he didn’t just talk about his convictions… he lived them.

Maybe that is why he lost all three times.

Politics, I have learned the hard way, doesn’t treat men of integrity well. On the contrary, it tends to chew them up and spit them out. Meanwhile, those who are willing to sell their souls for position and power often rise to the top of the heap.

In some ways, the business world operates in similar fashion. Engage in ruthless tactics and cut corners to maximize profits and you get promoted. The corner office and the key to the executive washroom are yours… and so is a lucrative compensation package and a hefty bonus.

Oh, how I wish things were different on both Wall Street and Capitol Hill.

The idealist in me also wishes that somehow, some way, the warring factions in Congress could agree on at least a few core issues that were in the best interests of the American people.

War is bad and peace is good.

Government should always spend less than it receives in taxes and other revenues, even if that means cutting or eliminating pet projects or entire departments.

America’s borders should be secure and only citizens should be allowed to vote.

Energy independence is not only an economic issue, but also a national security concern.

Maybe I am hopelessly naïve, but there had to be a time when D’s and R’s checked their party affiliation at the door and did the right thing for America as a whole. It shouldn’t take a World War or another 9/11 for us to come together as a people.

That is one of the reasons why I wrote my tribute to William Jennings Bryan. Yes, he was a Progressive Democrat – back when Progressivism was a laudable movement, so laudable, in fact, that Teddy Roosevelt was its poster boy – and I am a Conservative Republican. But William Jennings Bryan was so much more. He was a devoted husband and father, an unapologetic Bible-believing Christian, and a champion of both the common man and the underdog.

I think Bryan and I would have been good friends and maybe even made a good team. Not because we agreed on every single issue, but because we shared enough common values to work together for the greater good.

And that, my friend, is what we need more of in Washington D.C.