Can politics ever be moral?

[panader0]

All this talk on DU about whether our guys caved or did the right thing politically begs the question. Can a political leader ever just do what he or she believes in? Or is politics, like some say, the art of compromise? If something is wrong, a crime like stealing or killing, are there degrees of wrongness? When I watched the proceedings on CSPAN I was struck by the obtuse and awkward nature of the House (like "I reserve my minutes")

[whathappened]

1. watching these fools

would be like watching a soap opera on the tv , congress has gotten so comfee with there place to put there feet up and bs , this shit makes me sick , i'm tired of these fuck up and wished there were a way to make things roll our way once in a while , k street needs to be taken down and the reps need to get back to the peoples work , they need to meet 4 times a year and dig in and get there job done , all there perks needs to be removed , if ya want to serve , pay them for the time they serve and when there done , walk the fuck away and go back to there old jobs , simple is the way to go

[Rosemary2205]

2. I think it has it's rare moments

I think they realize they have to throw the little people a bone every now and again but nearly all of it is purely their own wealth and power. Send someone moral and decent to Washington DC and they general either learn how to play the game or else they get chewed up and spit out.

[porphyrian]

3. The same forces and contortions used to make the immoral seem moral...

...in politics can be used to actually be moral. The problem isn't that politics can't be moral, it is that immoral people inevitably seek power, and, once achieved, seek to keep it. Thus, like any criminal organization, the players tend to operate in an environment of mutual blackmail and selfishness.

[NoPasaran]

4. No

Sometimes, it's best to just shut your eyes and think happy thoughts.

[Cronopio]

5. Not as long as the game is about tactics over principles.

Not as long as the idea that it is more "adult" to compromise is the dominant one.

[newyawker99]

15. Hi OmelasExpat!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

6. "Politics is like dogshit. You don't want to step in it."

From "The Motorcycle Diaries".

Politics is innately immoral because the practitioners seek power over other people. Even with the best of intentions, there is always someone who has to be sacrificed to achieve and/or maintain power.

[BlooInBloo]

7. If people were moral, there would be no need for politics...

I think Jefferson has the clearest statement along those lines, but the line of thought is Hobbesian.

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. Yes it can

but it can also be a tough game

And in fact, it is a form of warfare

But it can be moral... it is rarely moral but it can

Aristotle was a friend of the end justify the means (and so are Neo Cons, students of Leo Strauss)

But platonics know that part of the ideal is morality and ethics... and so was Socrates

So the idea of morality and ethics goes back in Western thoguht to at least the fifth cenrury BCE, but so does the ends justify the means

[EFerrari]

9. Yes, but you need a big can of spinach.

[slowry]

10. Absolutely

You just have to get rid of all the politicians first...

[dave_p]

11. Morality shouldn't determine policy

Politics is about using public power to achieve the best available result: common wellbeing and justice should be priorities, but I think the pursuit of moral abstracts is inappropriate and dangerous. Morality should be left to the realm of ethics, while politicians should be about governing well, which would be a massive advance on their part.

Compromise is a part of it, but reconciling interests for a fair & effective outcome should be part of the politician's own policy process before it even gets to the debate stage. Too bad that usually we just see a lot of ill-informed public tub-thumping followed by private deals.

[Swamp Rat]

12. No, because "morality" does not exist.

:)

[AuntPatsy]

13. I don't think so, unless the people would allow them to speak their mind

without fear of instant attacks then morality will never occur in the political arena, I have seen the same kind of wavering for certain candidates on this board over and over again...we need to stop giving them reason to behave in such a manner by not attacking so much...

[More Than A Feeling]

14. When Russ Feingold or Bernie Sanders goes to work, that's when you see moral politics.

Consistently true to their ethics, and yet very effective as well.

[Toots]

16. You must have missed "Mr. Smith goes to Washington"

Mr. Kucinich is close and I do believe Obama wants desperately to follow in Mr. Smith's tradition. He is Naive but earnest..