Zing!

I read aLOT of op-ed columns, from blogs to newspapers, from magazines to emails from my friends that are eloquently written defenses of their opinions. And usually, they preach to the choir. It's not a surprise when I agree with Nicholas Kristof, say, of the New York Times... although lately, I've been agreeing with David Brooks too, and that's quite a shock, let me tell you.

However, Timothy Egan's recent op-ed called "The Purists" was a shock to the choir, and I reveled in his energetic and passionate pragmatism so much, that I have to share it with you. (Yes, passionate pragmatism... it exists!)

The best quotes are here, and a link below if you want to read it all:

Ah, to be among the true believers, breathing only the clean air of sanctimony. Nothing is ever done, no lives improved, no laws passed. No messy deals tarnished by the poison of compromise. The public hates you — every poll shows that voters want both sides to legislate with a mix of ideas. But, oh, how good it must feel to be right all the time.

For most of his career, Kucinich has been a snow-white liberal. And it shows: after his nearly 14 years in Congress, his accomplishments could not fill the toe-end of a sock.

If Kucinich had gone ahead as promised with a “no” vote, it would not have an asterisk next to it. It would simply be another no, putting him in league with Michele Bachmann, John Boehner and other congressional defenders of the costliest, most inefficient and least accessible health care system in the Western world.

Reality is always a problem for purists.

Read the whole thing here and if you are in the minority with me as a progressive-liberal, perhaps you will also feel the scorn and power of Egan's words. I wonder what will happen today on the Hill...