Lost in the White House, she said, through finger-pointing, scandal, incompetence, venality, hubris, vanity, error, greed, gluttony, embarrassment, cover-up, stupidity, amateur bungling, brown-nosing, showboating, photo-opting and questioning as a result of a few minor mistakes made by the Obama administration – an administration that brutalized several archaic laws, and some diminutive sections of the Bill of Rights written by irrelevant white dudes; an administration that caused people to die, violated civil rights, harassed government workers, ignored its basic responsibilities and common sense – it’s these little, thorny details: the people in power are goddamn hypocrites; and because they are hypocrites, they have nothing to offer the American people.
Nothing like Zero (0).
Their ideas don’t work, and all they stand for is some vague idea of fairness and equality, and they decide for themselves what is fair and what is not. Even in this they fail.
As recently demonstrated, their views on justice and equality are troubling. They want to win politically, by fair means or by foul play. This is their only idea of justice.
Now let’s get this straight: neither the Democratic Party nor the Republican Party (neither the Libertarians nor the Ron Paulist Party) are in any morally superior position either by ideology, philosophy, or by the grace of God.
Political parties, government entities, corporations, non-profit organizations, churches or GBLT parade groups are not endowed with moral qualities.
Only humans are moral beings. Institutions, including corporations called presidential administrations, are amoral.
Everyone is doing everything they can to survive.
This struck me as I read a Chicago Tribune editorial that offered little support for the administration’s explanation of the triptych of scandals currently plaguing the White House.
“At each of these bends,” he writes Tribune“The Obama administration seemed manipulative, defensive and exasperated. In some ways, these are not surprising reactions; “are weak points for any White House that, like this one, desires an image of moral rectitude, honesty and transparency.”
I know, I know: you laugh too that anyone, even the Chicago Tribune editorial board, could take seriously the Obama administration “which desires an image of moral integrity, honesty and transparency.”
However, the administration wants to create such an image. Obama was re-elected not because he was effective as a government leader, but because the American people long for leaders who offer them moral integrity.
The American people will overlook incompetence in favor of the ability to live boldly, greatly and justly.
Obama unquestionably offers justice. This is wrong thinking and I– rather righteous than virtuous, but a sucker is born every minute. In today’s America, maybe even more than one per minute.
However, this desire to lead a “proper” life is also the most essential vulnerability to the progress of liberal-progressive ideology.
Liberals, as President Obama reminded recent Ohio State graduates last week, believe in government serving the greater good through a series of mechanisms, stopgaps and Washington-led management
But if anything has been shown by what he said, the finger-pointing, scandal, incompetence, venality, pride, vanity and error, it is that when government and politics are involved, what he said is finger-pointing can be expected, scandal, incompetence, venality, hubris, vanity and error, regardless of which party is in power, which federal agency is ruling, or what greater good they are trying to serve.
And this is the essence of the smaller government argument, which, fortunately, President Obama put so ingeniously, even though he had no intention of doing so.
Obama and the Democrats want to bind us into a moral community of integrity where no child is left behind, insurance premiums respond to every papal edict, men are handsome and women are always forceful.
But they only have a blunt object for this task
Moral communities are created only by people, not by governments acting through blunt force.
Governments are remembered mainly for their mistakes and people for their achievements.
And there is a reason why this is so.
Americans will no doubt wonder about this as we do our duty to speak up.
