Letter to the editor: Required reading for politicians

Let me start off by saying this commentary applies to politicians across the spectrum. There are many books or documents that they should be required to read. Here are the two that I would suggest as a great starting point.

The first one is the Constitution of the United States. Read it, learn it and mostly understand it. After all, you are swearing an oath to defend and uphold it. The least you can do would be to read it before you try and dismantle it.

The second is a Pulitzer Prize- winning book written by JFK, “Profiles in Courage.” For those politicians who don’t know what the book is about, here’s a brief summary. It contains eight short biographies describing acts of courage, bravery and integrity by eight United States senators. It applies to all politicians, in my opinion. These senators defied their parties as well as constituents to do what they believed was right. For this, they suffered severe criticism and losses in popularity.

Courage is a trait that seems to be lacking in today’s political climate. Again, you took an oath to the Constitution and your constituents. Not a man or a party.

Let me close with the following quote by JFK: “Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future.”

Kurt Karafinski

Shaler