John F. Kennedy described Edmund G. Ross in his Pulitzer Prize winning book as one of the Senate's Profiles in Courage. It is quite possible that JFK didn't write the book himself, and the esteemed Mr. Ross may well not have not been a paragon of virtue, but still, his case remains quite illustrative.
Edmund Ross was a Republican senator from Kansas. Despite much pressure from his own party, he cast the decisive vote to acquit Andrew Johnson in the president's Senate impeachment trial.
Fast-forward some seven generations, and the spotlight turns on David Vitter, freshman senator from Louisiana. At a time when a straight party-line vote by his fellow Republicans blocks an independent inquiry into the Katrina disaster, Sen. Vitter stands up and DOESN'T VOTE. hr refuses to challenge the party leadership and call for an independent investigation. He represents a state most in need of answers and he refuses to call for the questions to be asked. That, ladies and gentlemen, is a profile in cowardice.
Congratulations, Senator Vitter, you must be so proud.
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