The good, the bad, and the ugly: here's some good

The first time I visited Washington D.C as an adult (I had been there once 26 years earlier) was in 1991. By then, I had three almost grown children, was living in Jakarta, Indonesia and because of those two facts, was very interested in politics.

I sat in the U.S. Senate gallery with my wife and high school son as the senators filed in for a floor debate. For me, this was like watching an MLB all-star game. All my heroes (and villains) were there in person. Ted Kennedy, Bob Dole, Jesse Helms, John Glenn, that dog-ass Phil Gramm all wandered in chatting as they took their places. Robert Byrd shuffled onto the floor, looking feeble even then. Earlier we had ridden in the elevator with Bill Bradley, and I was feeling like a kid at Disneyland.

I don't remember the issue to be debated, but I remember the young freshman senator who spoke first about it. He wasn't a familiar name, but that speech blew me away. Senator Paul Wellstone of Minnesota became my hero that day. His eloquence and passion were like nothing I had ever heard from a politician and it made me want to stand up and cheer.

Today we hear angry voters talk about dirty Washington politicians, how they are all corrupt, that they only want the office to enrich themselves. We can read it on Gather every day. Names like Tom DeLay, Dan Rostinkowski, Randy "Duke" Cunningham, Larry Craig, Rod Blagojevich and so many others seem to prove the stereotype of dishonesty and hypocrisy.

In order for a politician to become a politician, (s)he must get elected. That means (s)he must spend money - the higher the office, the greater the expense. The most honest, capable sincere candidate faces opponents who are ready to not just distort, but lie and who have the kind of morals and money that funded the Swift Boat Veterans sleaze and the nastiness in 2000 that cost John McCain the nomination. It takes money to fight that kind of garbage.

Arizona has two people in Congress who seem to be above the craven money grubbing and nastiness, Democratic Representative Gabrielle Giffords and Republican Jeff Flake.

Giffords represents Arizona's 8^th District, which includes Tucson down to the Mexican border. She graduated from Cornell University in 1996 with a MA in Regional planning, and won a Fulbright Scholarship to study in Mexico. She ran a small business before being elected in 2006 to replace retiring long-time Republican Jim Kolbe.

She is married to a Navy captain who is a Desert Storm vet and astronaut with three space missions. She is on the Armed Services Committee and is active in veterans issues and immigration. She recognizes the danger posed by uncontrolled illegal immigration but understands the need for foreign workers.

Jeff Flake serves the 6^th District, which covers the region east of Phoenix, including the cities of Mesa and Chandler. He graduated from BYU with a degree in International Relations and an MA in Political Science, then spent time in Namibia leading a group charged with monitoring their transition elections. He serves on the Foreign Affairs and Natural Resources Committees, and is Congress' most vocal critic of budget earmarks and pork barrel spending. I have heard Flake interviewed a number of times, and while I disagree with his very conservative stands, he always explains his reasoning in positive terms, he never resorts to distorting Democratic positions or demonizing liberals. He seems to be a very honorable man.