While the hour of Sarah Palin's resignation from office is upon us, it's worthwhile to consider the thoughts and words of another prominent Republican regarding the travails of public service, the importance of thinking before speaking, and the destructive role that character defamation plays in our national discourse.
It is also perhaps well to acknowledge that we, as a nation, have periodically been fortunate witness to an all-too-small number of heroic figures who have at various times staked their reputations and legacies upon their principles, often in the face of organized demagoguery and popular hysteria.
Margaret Chase Smith was a Republican senator from Maine, she served in the senate from 1948-1972 after succeeding her late husband in the House of Representatives. Smith was a moderate fiscal conservative with a keen interest in national defense policy. She was also a stalwart Yankee politician with a strong independent streak who helped to stand down ominous threats to free speech and dissension in her day, who was considered for the national ticket of her party in 1952, bucked party establishment in 1964 by challenging the standard-bearer of the nascent conservative movement for her party's presidential nomination, and asserted her independence to the end of her senate career.