Ben Sasse: Virtuous Senator

Earlier this week, as the House began its descent into madness over who will possess the coveted speaker’s gavel, outgoing Nebraska senator Ben Sasse delivered his farewell address from the Senate floor, warning of the perils of hyper-partisan zealotry. It was a striking juxtaposition that provided yet more evidence of how the virtues Sasse displayed will be in ever-shorter supply with his exit.

Sasse’s speech conveyed these virtues, and made a case for them. He extolled persuasion and emphasized the importance of making good-faith arguments, noting that this has fallen out of fashion on both sides of the political aisle among the most engaged. Political addicts on the left think you can only disagree with them “because you’re an irredeemable deplorable clinging to some phobic backward-looking vision,” making good-faith argument impossible. And for the political addicts on the right, “persuasion is a crutch for the weak for those who are too cowardly to fight.” The only way to win is to destroy the Left before it destroys us.

About the Author

Bobby Miller

Bobby Miller is an ISI Fellow at National Review and a graduate student at Georgetown University.

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Earlier this week, as the House began its descent into madness over who will possess the coveted speaker’s gavel, outgoing Nebraska senator Ben Sasse delivered his farewell address from the Senate floor, warning of the perils of hyper-partisan zealotry. It was a striking juxtaposition that provided yet more evidence of how the virtues Sasse displayed will be in ever-shorter supply with his exit.

Sasse’s speech conveyed these virtues, and made a case for them. He extolled persuasion and emphasized the importance of making good-faith arguments, noting that this has fallen out of fashion on both sides of the political aisle among the most engaged. Political addicts on the left think you can only disagree with them “because you’re an irredeemable deplorable clinging to some phobic backward-looking vision,” making good-faith argument impossible. And for the political addicts on the right, “persuasion is a crutch for the weak for those who are too cowardly to fight.” The only way to win is to destroy the Left before it destroys us.