Rising above principle

Bernie Hennessy, Chair of the Political Science Department at Penn State in the late Sixties, used an expression I’ve come to understand and appreciate.  He said sometimes it was necessary to “rise above principle.”  

Here is an example.  A whole raft of Republican congressmen have taken a pledge designed by a guy named Grover Norquist, a non-elected person who for some reason has great influence among Republicans, never to raise taxes.  This is their principle.  But if the deficit must be addressed, and one way to do it is to raise taxes on the wealthiest five percent of the American people, then those congressmen should “rise above principle” and increase taxes for that group. 

Here is another example of what Hennessy meant.  In 2009 Mitt Romney, often thought to be the most reasonable candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, said the plans to bailout the auto industry were “tragic” and a “very sad circumstance for this country.”  He would have allowed the Big Three to go bankrupt.  

In 2011 Ford, GM, and, if projections are correct, Chrysler all stand to make money.  Hundreds of thousands of men and women are working to build cars and car parts.  The American auto industry is back, and the loans have been repaid.

I am well aware that the Republican Party has as one of its principles an absolute faith in the free market, but here is some advice.  Sometimes you really need to rise above principle.