Yesterday’s results in primaries in four states has been judged to be a sign of anti Establishment and anti Washington, DC sentiment!
There is nothing wrong with the concept of “throwing the rascals out”! That was the design of our nation, that when the people are unhappy with their public servants, that they should be able to vote them out!
Turnover is good, and there are those who would think there should be term limits and age limits, although in no other occupation do such limits now exist, because they would be considered discriminatory! Experience and knowledge have always been thought of as virtues, except maybe in politics, ironically, where many citizens seem to think having “fresh blood” is always desirable!
Actually, a mix of experienced people and newcomers is what is best for a democratic system to operate efficiently! But try to tell that to the Tea Party activists, who simply are against all those who have served in government, in both parties, and against the federal government. The results in Pennsylvania are seen by many as the repudiation of Barack Obama, but the results in Kentucky are seen as the rejection of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell from that state!
In the rhetoric they employ, in reality, the Tea Party Movement is bordering on anarchism! They want a complete turnover of government, and back to the pre Great Depression America, when state and local government were the dominant levels and spent the most money in governing the masses! Of course, that was a much simpler time which many would wish could return, but which will not occur!
The problem is that we cannot go back to 1929 and earlier in levels of responsibility of local, state, and national government! The more one examines the facts, we become aware of the reality that state and local governments are far more corrupt, far less representative, and far less competent to solve issues that government in a complex world must deal with!
The concept of states rights is so overdrawn as a virtue, but it was made clear 150 years ago that all citizens had to be treated the same, not be at the whims of state governments which in many cases treated its citizens in very different, unjust ways! History tells us that did not always happen, but that became the basic view that has been enforced in the past 50 years!
To be against Washington, DC is to be against our Constitution, which provided for a federal government to unite the people and protect them in the Bill of Rights! We are not a confederation of 50 states, all doing their own thing with a “go to hell” attitude toward the nation as a whole! We tried that with the Articles of Confederation from 1781-1789, and it failed miserably!
To wish to go back to the Articles of Confederation mentality denies the whole point of our national experience, and it is a move toward total anarchism! This fury and anger must be directed to necessary change, but not deny the whole purpose of our Constitution!
National government IS necessary, and national government is the only level of government that can promote equality of opportunity and equal justice! Witness Arizona now, and many Southern states in the past, which have denied basic human rights! 🙁
The job of the Obama Administration, the Democrats, and “reasonable” Republicans, who do not wish to contribute to the downfall of a stable government, is to offer rational solutions to the many problems this nation now faces! It is a major challenge, but there have been crises before, and fringe movements have been overcome by strong leadership and measured response to national emergencies!