This Is What A Political Hero Looks Like

The picture above of of Democrat Ron Wyden.   He is a United States Senator representing the state of Oregon.   The folks in Oregon should be very proud of their senator, because to my way of thinking he is a hero who went above and beyond the call of duty to do the right thing.

Not long ago, Senator Wyden's doctors diagnosed him with the early stages of prostate cancer and told him he would need an operation.   Wyden scheduled that operation for December 20th.   He said he scheduled it for that day because he figured the Congress would be recessed for the christmas holidays by then (and he wouldn't have to miss any crucial votes).   But he was wrong.

He did not count on Republican obstructionism.   The Republicans decided to do everything they could to stop the START treaty, which was agreed to last April by Presidents Obama and Medvedev.   While Wyden went under the knife on December 20th, the Republicans offered amendment after amendment in an effort to kill the treaty.   Democrats kept beating back the amendments but whether they would have the votes to pass the treaty (it needed 67 votes) was in doubt.

Finally, the treaty was brought up for a vote on Wednesday, December 22nd, and guess who was there to cast his vote.   That's right -- Senator Wyden was there only two days after a serious operation (and anyone who's had an operation can testify to the pain and lack of energy only two days later -- I certainly can).   Thinking his vote might be needed to get the treaty ratified, Wyden showed up to cast his vote.

It turned out that his vote wasn't crucial.   Enough Republicans abandoned their leadership and voted to ratify so the treaty passed the Senate easily.   But I admire Wyden's guts and sense of duty anyway.   He's definitely earned some time off, and hopefully a quick and complete recovery.