356 sLAde goRton: A hALf centuRy in poLitics
there is friction.... So, the challenge to make a political institution work
is to find norms and ways of doing business that manage that natural and
even healthy friction in productive ways. That’s where the qualities of
someone like Slade Gorton turn out to make the difference between suc-
cess and failure. Slade raised the level of everyone’s game.”
The difference between success and failure in this case is a life-or-
death issue. Yet dealing with the challenge of an enemy who embraces
martyrdom and rationalizes mass murder “as righteous defense of an
embattled faith” is a terrible dilemma for a free society with a short atten-
tion span. It demands to be safe but bristles at full-body scanners and
wants its boys back home.^27