to get a rock solid foundation in spite of the rwhack fools set to destroy him just as I loved Senator Wellstone's pragmatism in going forward.
<snip>
'Russ Feingold likes to wrap himself in the mantle of Paul Wellstone’s legacy. Those of us who admired Paul Wellstone and understood his philosophy find the Feingold/Wellstone comparisons offensive. Wellstone fought for liberal principles and wasn’t afraid to criticize bad policy and bad bills. That’s where the similarities end. Wellstone understood the basic fact that all no votes are equal. He understood that a pragmatic half of a loaf was better than the purity of no loaf at all. As his friend( Frances Fox Piven) writes:
But to be pragmatic is not a bad thing. It is not the same as rank opportunism. To the contrary, pragmatism is the very essence of a political calling, for it means to make the most of the means available to further the ends of politics. The question always is, what ends? Paul viewed politics as a moral enterprise, grounded in basic convictions about democracy, equality, community, and mutuality. Those convictions guided his career in the Senate and shaped the compromises he made.
We need more of Wellstone’s pragmatism and less of Feingold’s rank opportunism. Maybe then we wouldn’t be facing the defeat of financial reform at the hand of the junior Senator from the state of status quo."<more>
http://bluewavenews.com/2010/06/28/feingold-will-vote-to-protect-wall-st-from-financial-reform/
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