Vermont U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders said Wednesday he is prepared to pursue contempt charges against Steward Health Care CEO Ralph de la Torre if he fails to show up at a hearing Thursday despite being issued a subpoena.
Sanders said de la Torre needs to answer to the American people about how he was able to reap hundreds of millions of dollars while Steward Health Care, which operated about 30 hospitals nationwide, had to file for bankruptcy in May.
“This is something that is not going to go away,” Sanders told The Associated Press. “We will pursue this doggedly.”
He was definitely a decent man. Which is probably why he was largely ineffective as a political operator.
That’s the paradox isn’t it? The people who have the integrity to lead either have no interest in it, or are just too kind-hearted to think in terms of real politik, which is necessary for world leaders to do at times.
It does seem like that was definitely a part of it. It seems he developed issues with Ted Kennedy and lost most of the support of his own party, and without anyone backing him, he severely limited himself from the sound of things.
This is why it’s probably not a great situation if we do end up becoming too enamored with any one politician in general.