For years one of my heroes has been the fictional Atticus Finch of �To Kill a Mockingbird.� I tend to shy away from real-life heroes. Having a real-life hero is too risky. Sure they are heroic today but what about tomorrow? The Arizona Republicans named a building after Barry Goldwater and then discovered that he could say things they did not like. For fear of similar problems with my heroes, I prefer to stick to noticing acts of real-life heroism. This week contained a doozy.

I�m tipping my hat to the real-life heroism of Russ Feingold, our senator from Wisconsin. Just as we discussed destroying a village to save it back in the Vietnam era, we seem to be in danger of disposing of civil liberties as inconveniences in order to preserve our freedom. Senator Feingold alone tried to slow the speeding train as the Senate attempted to rush the bill the House, the more conservative House of Representatives, considered to be too fundamental a change in our civil liberties to pass as presented. If Congressman James Sensenbrenner, my former Congressman* and one of the less reflective politicians I�ve known, believed safety would not be compromised by reflection, I�m sure reflection was plenty safe.

In any event, I�m not sure that the real lesson of September 11th ought to be that we need to expand police powers. I�ve seen nothing to indicate that September 11th occurred due to a lack of police power. I�ve seen a few things that suggest that part of the problem was a failure to use the powers already available. As the �Wall Street Journal� reported on October 11, 2001, a bank did notify the government, pursuant to current banking laws, that Mohammed Atta, one of the suspected terrorist of September 11th, received a suspicious transfer of $100,000 into an account from the United Arab Emirates. Nothing happened. The Treasury Department�s Financial Crimes Enforcement failed to attend to the report until after September 11th. Requiring additional reports and invasions into privacy will be of no avail if the flood of reports simply overwhelms the system much as the testing every trace of talcum, flour, and Sweet N� Low that finds its way into a business is overwhelming our health system.

But the need (or lack of it) for far greater police powers is not my point today. Senator Feingold�s heroism is not based upon his being right. Instead, the heart of it is his willingness to stand alone based upon principle. I admire his willingness to heed not what is popular but what he believes is right. I particularly admire his willingness to risk being considered unpatriotic. After all, Senator Feingold is from the same state Senator Joseph McCarthy came from. Wisconsites who know their history cannot help but know how much personal destruction comes from being labeled unpatriotic.

In a world in which people complain that politicians have no principles, Senator Feingold�s actions stand out. In a world in which too many people are running in fear headlong into group-think, his actions stand out. Just like Atticus, he is trying to rise above his time and place and, just like Atticus, he failed in the short run. Nevertheless, the world is a better place for the attempt.

* I was re-districted out of his area quite a few years ago.

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