Nonbelievers in
government, that is.
Let me make a confession: I believe in government. When the trash man comes, as he did this morning, or when I drive on a newly paved street, I see where my taxes are going. This time of year especially, I love to visit the Blue Ridge Parkway. I love seeing new books on our library shelves. I love seeing public school-educated kids go off to big-time colleges on academic scholarships. At its best, government enhances our community and makes us all feel a part of something larger; It gives us a sense of togetherness.
Please make the jump, wherein I take off my rose-colored glasses.
Sadly, the very people in charge of our nation right now do not believe in democratic government. As Grover Norquist has famously said, "My goal is to cut government in half in twenty-five years, to get it down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub." That quote was recently superimposed over a picture of drowned New Orleans and turned into a
mobile billboard in D.C. It is quite a striking image. Gary Hart
wrote recently, "Response to hurricane Katrina is not proof of government's failure; it is proof of George W. Bush's failure to govern effectively." Read the whole article, it's good stuff.
To see more evidence of our current Administration's failure to govern, we need look no further than poor Harriet Miers. Miers may be a competent lawyer, but clearly her greatest asset is her unquestioning loyalty to her friend, George W. Bush. The president would simply have us trust him to make the right choice. Even for some Republicans, that act is getting stale.
When you don't believe in government, you don't really care who is placed in charge of it. The man who now heads up our nation's response to acts of bioterrorism (or a pandemic), Assistant Secretary for Public Health and Emergency Preparedness Stewart Simonson, has absolutely no relevant experience. He is, however, a crony of Bush crony Tommy Thompson. Our new Chairman of the Consumer Products Safety Commission has no experience in consumer safety, but he was active in his local chapter of "Lawyers for Bush."
In his first inaugural address, Ronald Reagan said, "In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem." This quote is often used as a rallying cry for conservatives. But Reagan went on to explain himself: "Now, so there will be no misunderstanding, it's not my intention to do away with government. It is rather to make it work--work with us, not over us; to stand by our side, not ride on our back. Government can and must provide opportunity, not smother it; foster productivity, not stifle it." Some of us on the Left may doubt Saint Ron's sincerity, but the words ring true.
Whether we're talking about a PTA or a federal government, a governing body should be no larger than necessary and as efficient as possible in carrying out the wishes of the electorate. If we were all striving toward those goals, New Orleans might still be standing. Valerie Plame might still be undercover. But the neocons believe that government (and the rules) only apply to other people, i.e. peons like me who believe in the system. You don't see anarchists running for elected office. Perhaps the theocrats and corporatists should step aside and leave democracy to those of us who do believe in rule of the people, for the people, and by the people.