Size Does Matter
Throughout history political arguments have sadly shown very little creativity, typically consisting of three worn out arguments:
(1) The other guy is incapable, incompetent, etc.
(2) The other guy has the wrong priorities, hates babies, seniors and the sick and wants to ruin the police, fire or some such vital department.
(3) The other guy does not share/respect our values/religion.
The argument then becomes, “If I am (my team is) in power, things will be all good because I/we are smarter, have the right priorities and share YOUR values.” The problem with this argument has always been and always will be that it negates the single most important reality. Government will outlast any team, barring of course some sort of civil war or being overtaken by an external force. Any government that requires the “right” team to be in charge in order to have the nation be successful is doomed to failure. This is why the size and scope of government must always be constrained. Size matters.
The genius of the American form of government is that its founders understood the temporal nature of politicians and political parties. They sought to design a system of government that would enable the nation to prosper in spite of whoever was running the government. This is why the Founders sought to limit the size and scope of government, in order to protect us from those less than angelic, less than genius or just plain human who ended up in office.
To be fair, I do sympathize with anyone running for office who has this reality firmly implanted in their mind as it would be tough to run on a platform that acknowledges that their government needs to continually reinforce the structures that protect you, my voter, from any destructive, corrupt or just plain goofy things I might intentionally or accidentally do while in office. The office must always be greater than its holder.
Today politicians try to convince the electorate that they are individually the solution. Once in office most tend to whine about how others fight them, don’t follow their lead, all along the same lines of the divine right of Kings. To be fair, I do sympathize with anyone running for office who has this reality firmly implanted in their mind as it would be tough to run on a platform that acknowledges that government needs to continually reinforce the structures that protect you, my voter, from any destructive, corrupt or just plain goofy things I might intentionally or accidentally do while in office. But truth be told, the office must always be greater than its holder. Oh for the politician who has the humility to acknowledge this!
This type of hubris has most recently been expressed in the NSA surveillance scandals, but have no fear little one. You can trust us, we’ll never abuse this power. For the sake of argument, and because I’ve already lost significant cranial power from slamming my head into the wall during ole Ben Bernanke’s press conference today, lets say it’s true. We can trust today’s administration because they are all angels, (hold the hysterical laughter). How the hell can the angels argue that they are honoring their pledge to defend the nation when they know it is impossible for every “team” after them to consist exclusively of angels? Americans are rightly enraged to be told to trust the judgment of a group, meaning all politicians, that has such an abysmal track record.
