Is politics doomed to godlessness?

Today's Psalm puts the lie to the inevitability of the wedding of politics and godlessness:

Though princes meet and talk against me,
your servant meditates on your statutes.
~ Psalm 119:23

Politicians are subject to the temptations common to all men and women. Our elected officials may choose to confront these assaults on virtue with the same arsenal as we do. They are free also to neglect these tools.

That many politicians are ensnared by power is no more a testimony to the inevitability of godlessness than our moral failures are to the inevitability of sin. The lives of Blessed Theresa of Calcutta and Saint Thomas More make clear that holiness is possible for the powerless and the powerful alike.

There remains no excuse for the moral cowardice of those who name the name of Christ when they are in the quest for the vote, yet abandon the command of Christ when they take counsel regarding the health of the nation.

Yes, your decrees are my delight;
they are my counselors.
~ Psalm 119:24