BS: The Principled Politician - Ralph Carr

Subject: BS: The Principled Politician - Ralph Carr
From: katlaughing
Date: 13 Mar 08 - 01:12 PM

I grew up mostly in Colorado and never heard of Governor Ralph Carr, until today on Colorado public radio. Adam Schrager has written a book about him called "The Principled Politician: The Ralph Carr Story."

I was really struck not only with the story, but also the author's motivations for writing it. The interview is well worth listening to HERE from www.kcfr.org. Here's the amazon blurb:

This important biography tells the true story of the only political leader in the country to welcome Japanese-Americans to his state during World War II. Colorado Governor Ralph Carr was an unwilling candidate who catapulted to the top of the national Republican Party and was even pegged as a possible future presidential candidate by the New York papers. But when he took a courageous, yet unpopular, stance on the internment of Japanese-Americans, Carr fell rapidly from favor. He resisted demands from his political opponents to call up the National Guard to keep the Japanese out of the state, declaring, "If you harm them, you must harm me first." Speaking out on the issue, Carr fielded thousands of insults and fought off threats of impeachment. A riveting biography, The Principled Politician is the story of a courageous man sadly forgotten by Colorado and never known by his country.

Seems we could do with some like him, today.

Subject: RE: BS: The Principled Politician - Ralph Carr
From: Wesley S
Date: 13 Mar 08 - 01:18 PM

I think it's unforunate that we expect our politicians to be perfect. Ralph Carr was probably a flawed human being just like the rest of us. But he did the right thing at the right time. Yes - we need more like him. Good - but imperfect - men and women to run for office.

Subject: RE: BS: The Principled Politician - Ralph Carr
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 13 Mar 08 - 03:52 PM

Sometimes the most courageous "thinking outside the box" either goes unnoticed or earns the person a reputation of being eccentric, unreliable, a "loose cannon."

In 1987 when the Federal Government wanted to send the Minnesota National Guard to Central America to work on "training" projects that would help the Contras overthrow the Sandinistas in Nicaragua, Governor Rudy Perpich sued to prevent it. The case went to the US Supreme Court, and Perpich lost, but I admired him for trying.

Here's an article about it in the New York Times.

Perpich's biography at Wikipedia doesn't mention the incident but it does give several reasons why he was called "Governor Goofy."