Jason Chaffetz just was handed a golden opportunity to go down in history as a principled American statesman, putting justice and country ahead of partisan political concerns, and gilding his so-far petty, small-minded career with a patina of patriotism.
We’ve seen this before. Sam Ervin, of North Carolina, was a retrograde Dixiecrat senator who spent most of his career on the wrong side of history as a strict constructionist, fighting against Brown and civil rights legislation, fighting against the ERA, fighting against immigration reform – I’m sure you’re familiar with the type.
But late in life, this old “country lawyer” who had passed the bar immediately after serving in the Big Red One – the First Division – during WWI, achieved historical prominence and affection among true Americans for his work as the chair of the Senate Select Committee to Investigate Campaign Practices. You may know it better as “The Watergate Committee.”
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