Clown Government

The incredibly inept performance of this Administration with respect to almost anything is astounding. Most astounding of all is its performance with respect to terrorism. That should shock everyone, regardless of whether they consider themselves conservative or liberal.

As one moves across the ideological spectrum from right to left, the perceived role of the government expands.  To the extreme right, there is no or very limited government. Except for anarchists, no one believes that government does not have some role. At the extreme left, the government has an all-encompassing role. Except for full-blown socialists, no one believes that government should completely displace private markets. The first and primary role of any government is defense, both internal and external. Regardless of how much government one ultimately believes to be proper, government’s ostensible purpose is to provide law and order. It is its raison d’etre. The following  youtube video presents this well.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFXuGIpsdE0[/youtube]

When a government cannot perform its primary and most important function, it is unlikely to be able to perform its tertiary functions. The Obama Administration has shown ineptness in virtually everything it has undertaken. Now, it has revealed its ineptness in the one function that virtually all Americans need and agree upon. Thankfully, due to good luck, the latest terrorist attempt failed, but the American people deserve and require more than “good luck” to keep them safe.

It is one thing to tolerate ineptness in other areas. It is doubtful that the people will tolerate ineptness in the primary function of government. Sadly, this Administration appears clueless. It is likely our enemies will exploit such weakness. Once an attack or multiple attacks succeed, how much longer will our citizens tolerate incompetence? Unrest and dissatisfaction as reflected in polls is already unusually high. The so-called “tea party” movement recently outpolled both the Republican and Democrat parties. If suicide bombers start blowing themselves up within this country, it is difficult to imagine how people will then react.

If government cannot perform its most basic function, why are we trying to do all the other things that govenment has expanded into? We have a long and undistinguished track record of failures in such endeavors as Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, the Postal Service, Amtrack, public education, etc. etc. Should we finally recognize that government does not have all the answers? Perhaps we should wonder whether they have any answers. Is it time to precede all references to government with the adjective “inept?” Or would most citizens already consider that unnecessarily redundant?