Courage vs. Pragmatism

Jim Webb, one of my top few favorite Senators and his support for criminal justice system reform is featured in this article by Salon's Glenn Greenwald (look out for another favorite Senator too). According to Greenwald, Virginia Senator Jim Webb's support for this reform is one of the few examples of leadership and a very powerful way to cause change:

Political leaders have the ability to change public opinion by engaging in leadership and persuasive advocacy. Any cowardly politician can take only those positions that reside safely within the majoritiarian consensus. Actual leaders, by definition, confront majoritarian views when they are misguided and seek to change them, and politicians have far more ability to affect and change public opinion than they want the public to believe they have.

I have to agree with him. The low point of the article mentions Obama's run-arounds with issues like marijuana early last week, a sure sign that we have a president who often delves into calculating pragmatism, and any drastic change in some other majoritarian issues aren't likely.