“Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action.”

- George Washington

When Rome ruled Judea, Roman governors owed their allegiance to Rome. Their rule was motivated by what was in the best interest of Rome, not what was moral or what was right or what would best serve their local subjects.

The most well-known instance of this in Christendom is, of course, the non-decision of Pontius Pilate when Jesus of Nazareth was brought before him. According to Biblical accounts of the incident, after interviewing Jesus Pilate stated, “I can find no fault with this man.” He then ordered a basin of water and a towel and proceeded to wash his hands, indicating he was absolving himself of the matter.

Instead of doing that which he knew was morally right—namely, releasing Jesus—Pilate turned him over to the Jewish leaders in whose sides Jesus’ teachings had become a real thorn. In spite of Pilate’s recognition that Jesus was innocent, he allowed him to be crucified in order to best serve Rome by keeping the peace in Judea. Had Pilate followed what he knew to be the morally correct course of action and released Jesus he would likely have helped foment a period of significant unrest in Judea—a situation that would have been detrimental to Rome.

Today, we have our own Pontius Pilate sitting in a governing position in Washington. His name is Mitch McConnell, the Republican Senator from Kentucky who occupies the position of Minority Leader in the Senate.

McConnell has publicly stated his number one priority during this session of Congress is to ensure “Barack Obama is a one-term President.” All of McConnell’s actions since the current Congress convened have had as their goal the object of defeating Obama in 2012. Now, with the budget and debt ceiling crises that face the nation, rather than do what is morally right by working with the President to resolve the issues, McConnell has proposed a plan that will allow him to wash his hands of any responsibility for raising the debt ceiling and place the entire responsibility for any increase in the ceiling solely at the foot of the President.

What we have in Mitch McConnell is a modern-day Pontius Pilate. He is not motivated to do that which is right for the country; he is motivated to serve his Rome by trying to bring down Obama without getting his own hands dirty. He wants to take no responsibility for the resolution of a hard problem that threatens to eviscerate the country; his only interest is in serving his own desires and those of his Roman masters—corporate America and its unquenchable greed.