Quote of the Day (Ambrose Bierce, on Partisan Strife)

“The partisan strife in which the people of the country are permitted to periodically engage does not tend to the development of ugly traits of character, but merely discloses those that preexist.”— American short story writer and journalist Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914), on election campaigns, in his “Prattle” column, Nov. 8, 1884

No truer demonstration of Bierce’s observation exists than the controversy over the Brett Kavanaugh nomination to the Supreme Court. The only thing that both sides seem to agree on is that his confirmation today by the Senate has opened a new vein of ugliness in American politics.

Each side might insist that it did what it had to do, but neither really covered itself in glory. It will be impossible for the Democrats to escape the suspicion that it waited until the last minute to introduce Christine Blasey Ford’s accusation against him, after they saw taking his nomination apart on the basis of ideology, as with Robert Bork, was gaining no traction. At the same time, the GOP showed, by not even bringing to a vote the nomination of Merrick Garland, that it had no scruples at all when it came to power politics—quite simply, they blocked any action at all on him because they could.

For the foreseeable future, I think we are going to see confirmation votes almost as razor-thin as this one. The whole process has become consumed by “partisan strife”—and strife over single issues, at that. I’m afraid that it will take a disaster for the two sides in Congress to talk to each other again.

We are not a better nation after all of this.

Quote of the Day (Fr. Craig Morrison, on the Beguiled, Baffling and Ambiguous King David)

“As I embarked on this commentary on 2 Samuel, I assumed that my task was to interpret, or ‘exegete,’ the life of King David for my readers. But the more I tried to interpret him, the more elusive, complex, and distant he became. A king, a father, a warrior, a diplomat, a murderer, a manipulator, a tyrant, a beguiler who is often beguiled, David, as baffling as he is ambiguous, interprets and exposes the fictions of those who meet him.”—Fr. Craig Morrison, Berit Olam: 2 Samuel (2013)

The last week has seen public images of Judge Brett Kavanaugh so divergent—star student, family man and respected judge vs. youthful fratboy, booze hound and sexual assailant—that it has left viewers wondering how they could be considering the same man. 

The events in the life of King David to which Fr. Morrison refers, however, vividly convey that, since ancient times, the greatest heroes favored by God can also be all too human and sinful; that light and dark coexist in the human heart; and that private misdeeds not only can pollute the conduct of public life, but can have repercussions lasting far beyond the immediate event.

Having slain the feared Philistine giant Goliath and survived assassination attempts instigated by the prior Israeli king, Saul, David was at the height of his influence when he caught sight of Bathsheba, the wife of one of his generals, Uriah, bathing. The pregnancy resulting from the subsequent affair would have been sinful, but a private matter among the king, his friend and the latter's wife. 

But David compounded his transgression with an abuse of power: ordering Uriah into the front lines of a battle without adequate support, making certain he would be killed and unable to learn about and protest the betrayal of his friend and wife.

David’s sin could not remain secret, of course. He might have won the hand of Bathsheba, but he was confronted by the prophet Nathan as an adulterer and, in effect, a murderer. He ruled Israel for 40 years, but his reign was darkened by a revolt led by one of his children, Absalom. 

If the Devil can quote Scripture to their purpose, then so can politicians and political commentators. Twenty years ago, Bill Clinton quoted Psalm 51—widely regarded as David’s confession of his affair—in a more successful attempt to move the nation past his affair with Monica Lewinsky than his initial, angry televised attempt. In 2016, Sean Hannity attempted to explain away Donald Trump’s videotaped bragging about groping women by noting, “King David had five hundred concubines for crying out loud."

The actual story of King David resists any such shallow attempts at justifying the private misbehavior of the powerful  I do not profess to know anything about the truth or falsity of Christine Blasey Ford’s charges against Judge Kavanaugh. But for those who wonder what harm really occurred from events 35 years ago, it is well to remember that actions performed secretly long ago can indeed cry out to the world, far louder and later than we could ever imagine.

(The image accompanying this post is a still from the 1951 film David and Bathsheba, starring Gregory Peck and Susan Hayward as the lovers.)