Selling Out

Call me old school: I remember when Green Day released the album "Dookie" and were immediately accused of "selling out" by going mainstream; similarly, I was at RFK stadium when Good Charlotte debut'd their then new song, Little Things, which to alt-punk rock music purists was equally blasphemous.

Now fast forward about a decade to the current state of politics, and witness some serious "selling out" on both the left and the right. On the left, how much does it cost to change your healthcare vote, Mary Landreiu? Turns out a $120 Million line item for Louisiana does the trick. On the right, remember John McCain's 2008 campaign for President? How many times did he vote with President Bush after spending years castigating him? In both cases, the politicians were changing their votes against their conscience to satisfy something else, usually political ambition.

I'm all about having a change of heart, or reaching a compromise. Compromise is how we arrive at our best legislation, like the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. But when you sacrifice your conscience for reelection, you sacrifice your soul in the eyes of the American voter. Ends rarely justify the means.

As Abraham Lincoln said, "You can fool all of the people some of the time. You can even fool some of the people all of the time. But you cannot fool all of the people all of the time."

Truer words never spoken.