Kurt Alme and the magic Christian

Congratulations Kurt Alme.  You won the election.  And, the title United States Senator.

Do you remember the Paul McCartney song, “Come and Get it?”  It was the theme song for the movie, “The Magic Christian,”  starring Ringo Starr and Peter Sellers in 1969.

You may have been too young. You should watch it. It’s got a great message.

In the Magic Christian, everyone has a price. Everyone will willingly sacrifice their honor, their dignity, and jettison their core values, for the right price.

You had an exceptional career. Harvard.  Federal law clerk. Partner in a prestigious law firm.  Director of the Department of Revenue. Foundation President. Budget Director. U.S. Attorney.

I have known you for nearly 40 years. You attended my wedding reception. We have had close personal, professional, and business ties during the decades. Your wife and I worked at the same law firm.  In 2017, you were nominated to be the United States Attorney for Montana, a position my great- great grandfather Preston H. Leslie once held.  I was asked to write a letter in support. I wrote and endorsed your appointment because I believed  you would exercise independent judgment and uphold the rule of law. I respected you and trusted your judgment.

Then, you made a secret backroom deal that made you the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate. It was not a righteous selection.

You left out the voters, important participants in a democracy.

As the Republican nominee, you sought an endorsement from your party’s leader. To borrow a phrase from Mark Twain, “He is as rotten a human being as can be found anywhere under the flag; he is a shame to the American nation.”

And, you signed on.  With gusto.

How do you reconcile the values that once distinguished you with your sudden embrace of a criminal?  Indicted by four separate grand juries for 91 criminal counts. In Georgia, New York, and by federal grand juries in Washington, D.C. and Florida. Convicted on 34 counts in New York.

You demonstrated your fealty and received his “complete and total endorsement.” And you went further. You praised him and pledged your support to a man of corruption and vengeance. Your praise and support were inconsistent with the moral values and independence I believed you held. They were the foundation for my endorsement of your nomination as U.S. Attorney, and my belief in you as a thoughtful, intelligent, and ethical person.

You changed teams. From fighting for justice to the front bench of a convicted criminal who has no respect for the rule of law or our Constitution.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer taught us about the moral consequences of witnessing wrongdoing instead of preventing it: “We have been silent witnesses of evil deeds.”

What did it take to buy your silence? How much of yourself did you have to give up for that “total and complete” endorsement?

Remember the admonition: “Welcome the stranger, feed the hungry, and care for the poor.” Remember, it’s about who is my neighbor, not who is my enemy. Apparently, those values are negotiable or ignorable for you. Let’s just say it’s a “creative” interpretation of Christian scriptures.

It raises a question: Do we judge by the faith professed or by the values demonstrated?  Perhaps the Magic Christian is really the person who can profess the Christian faith while abandoning its values?

Consider the guy you praise and support.

He cut USAID and eliminated humanitarian aid for Africa. Millions are expected to die as a result, many children.

He increased the national debt by more than $4 trillion. An immoral burden on future generations.

His illegal forever war in Iran has cost us around $50 billion, plus the increased cost of gas and diesel. The United Nations reports that “there were reasonable grounds to believe that the United States committed the war crime of launching indiscriminate attacks resulting in the loss of life or injury to civilians or damage to civilian objects.”

How far we have fallen. Once the leader of the free world. A symbol of stability, morality, and democracy.  Now, accused of war crimes.

And this is the team you chose. The guy you praise. Just remember this:  His moral failures are now your moral failures. This is not just your team. It’s your legacy.

The Magic Christian believed that everyone has a price. It’s not always money in an envelope. Sometimes, it’s a title, Senator.

The price you paid. Your reputation, honor, integrity, good name, and independence. On the bright side, you get to wear a shiny new collar.  This one isn’t copper, but it’s still a collar. I could be wrong. I hope I am.

I have just never seen a lapdog morph into a pit-bull.  Unimaginable.

You won. Now you are a ventriloquist’s dummy, perched on the knee of corruption.  When you speak, a MAGA voice will come from your mouth. You get the title Senator, but you don’t get to do the job.

Remember the Magic Christian.  Everyone has a price.  He found yours.

You ride for his brand.

Was it worth it, Senator?