The Reluctant Warrior

OK, that title is a bit melodramatic, but how's this for the opening of a campaign announcement:

Okay, so I guess the cat’s out of the bag. One reporter from the Appleton Post-Crescent actually did her homework, checked the facts with the Government Accountability Board, and discovered that I am the first, and so far the only, person who is officially registered as a candidate for Congress in Wisconsin’s 8^th Congressional District race.

That is Kerry Thomas, a Republican candidate for Wisconsin's 8th Congressional district.  From that beginning he proceeds through the hall of shame that is the recent legislative record.  From TARP through the stimulus, cap & trade, and healthcare reform he ticks them off and reminds his readers that Kagen has supported each of these massive spending programs.

Thomas then provides this as his reason for running:

After bearing witness for the last five years to the debacle that has become the Republican Party, and to Members of Congress and the Executive Branch running roughshod over the Constitution, I felt I had to do something. The only way America will be able to undo the damage caused by those currently governing our Republic is for people of good character to step forward and replace those currently governing our Republic.

If you are interested in what is going in WI-8 and the nation more generally, go read the whole thing.

It's hard not to like a campaign kickoff, even one as low-key as this, that quotes Burke:

Most people are familiar with Edmund Burke’s 1795 quote that “the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” But Burke, an Irish orator, philosopher, and politician, also said “No one could make a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little.”

One quibble, if I may, is that while many may be familiar with the quote, I would guess most couldn't tell you its source.  Of those that could, I would suspect many couldn't provide any information beyond name and date.  While I haven't made it through Reflections, I did read this, and plan to dig even further.

If only more people were familiar with Burke's thought and its value in shaping a society, I suspect Mr. Thomas would be happier and the rest of us would be better for it.