What Courage Can Do

Since we began The Daily Felltoon, one of our more distinguishing features has been that we'll occasionally give direct praise where it's due, and give direct condemnation when it's been earned.

Today, we have to give praise to a man we've often had disagreements with in the past, Nebraska's Governor Dave Heineman. The Governor did something on Monday that is increasingly rare among major politicians of any party – he took some definitive action.

Gov. Heineman called for a special session of the Nebraska Legislature in order to properly, legally, and thoroughly address the issue of the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline. As we wrote on Monday morning before the Governor's announcement, it's obvious that Nebraskans have wanted their legislature to have a greater role in the pipeline process.

It now looks like Nebraskans will get their wish, even though the Speaker of the Legislature feels that a special session would be an exercise in futility.

While it would have been easy for Heineman, a Republican, to automatically side with the big oil interests of TransCanada, the Governor chose to do what was right, not what was easy.

The Governor's actions may seem worlds apart from the protesters on the streets of Cairo, or those of the Occupy protesters on Wall Street. Still, a similar kind of quiet determination, like that the Governor displayed Monday, has been a hallmark of the many revolutions that have been happening around the world this year.

Doing what is right has never been easy, whether you're a poor, unemployed person, or a political leader. From standing up to the terrible reign of Middle Eastern political dictators, to standing up to the corruption of the financial despots of Wall Street, the dangers are always many, and the costs are often high.

In our American political system, actions like Gov. Heineman's could be political suicide, if the Governor planned on running for other offices. In the Middle East, standing up for what's right has cost the lives of many.

There is even the danger of becoming that which you hate, as it appears some of Col. Gadhafi's captors tortured him before they killed him - just as Gadhafi had been rumored to do to his enemies.

Still, once a person displays the determination to do the right thing, it often becomes easier for others to do the same.

Once enough people have decided to do what is right instead of what's easy, the cowardly dictators and despots, whether political or financial in nature, have fewer and fewer places left to hide their ill-gotten gains.

In the Middle East, those abusive leaders who remain are becoming as paranoid as the power brokers on Wall Street, afraid that the rivers of red - whether blood or red tape - will swallow them up, and take away that which they've stolen from others.

The river might take back what they've taken - but justice won't happen automatically.

Like the Tunisians, the Egyptians, the Libyans, and even the Occupy Wall Street protesters, Governor Heineman's action that forces Nebraska's Legislature to do its job, is merely a beginning, not an end. We don't expect the Governor's new position  will instantly resolve the debate over the pipeline, or even stop the pipeline from eventually going through portions of Nebraska.

What we do hope is that this is a new beginning to solving a difficult problem.