I am always amazed by Leonard Pitts’ candid analysis of a situation. His recent column in The Tribune refers to Pennsylvania party official David Ball’s statement reprimanding Sen. Pat Toomey for his vote to find ex-President Trump guilty of inciting a riot: “We did not send him to the Senate to vote his conscience … or to do the right thing,” said Ball. Blind, extreme and potentially dangerous allegiance to a person is defined by Webster as a “cult”... or as Pitts puts it, a political party of “moral rot.”
Luckily, Utah has one outstanding Republican who refused to go along with the moral decay: Sen. Mitt Romney. This is why the 17th Amendment (1913) was enacted, to allow senators to assess the issue, use their best judgement, and vote their conscience, rather than be told how to vote by their respective states or associates. We must therefore assume that David Ball believes that Sen. Toomey did not follow orders or “get in line.”
Ball should read the history of the 17th Amendment, whose purpose was to stop the “giving of orders,” and instead to allow for the emergence of respected statesmen. Thanks, Sens. Romney and Toomey! You did your job.
Beverly Terry, Salt Lake City