He Serves His Party Best Who Serves His Country Best

I was searching the web for thoughts regarding moderation. I find, oddly enough, that many people consider moderation to be evidence of weakness rather than a virtuous ideal. I did find, though, a quote that gave me reason to reflect on our current political situation. The quote follows.

We are in a period when old questions are settled and the new are not yet brought forward. Extreme party action, if continued in such a time, would ruin the party. Moderation is its only chance. The party out of power gains by all partisan conduct of those in power. ~Rutherford B. Hayes

Now, I don't know about you, but I didn't know too much about President Hayes, so I decided to learn something about him. As it turns out, controversy surrounded his presidency. He followed President Grant and that would have been a challenge for anyone. Post Civil war, and following Grant, there was still much healing necessary for our country. Hayes seems to have been a good and decent man who was determined to address the civil rights of blacks. Well, he did try, but with far less success than he would have liked. In fact, because of the election controvery surrounding him, he pulled the federal troops out of the South and ended Reconstruction to appease the Southern Democrats, effectively leaving the black population at risk. He vetoed a few bills that attempted to limit the civil rights of black Americans, and held out until he was presented a bill that his conscience could abide. He vetoed a bill that was trying to limit Chinese immigration to this country and he signed into law a bill that allowed women lawyers to argue cases before the Supreme Court. The more I read about him, the more I respect him. His most famous quote, is

He serves his party best who serves his country best. ~RBH

I think this a thoughtful and thought provoking statement. In terms of our present political climate where extremists are distorting out nation by pulling it apart from both extremes, we need to ask, who serves our country best? Certainly not those who are making the most noise and fighting on the seesaw for control. Those individuals and groups care nothing for the country. They care for themselves alone.