Gods And Fools

(Great American) Faith in Government

Many people say they love small government -- but their tune is quite different when it comes to carrying out war as diplomacy by funner means.  Suddenly, they have great faith in government's right and ability and even duty to carry out war. Suddenly, government is never wasteful, and never overeager, and should never be questioned.  It's odd.

I often puzzle over the difference between bona fide libertarians and conservatives who pay lip service to small government.  True libertarians seem intellectually consistent -- they don't believe that government is an effective mechanism for most things, so they seek to allow the free market and private enterprise to handle many domestic matters; and they have reduced expectations for what they can accomplish overseas.

A distrust of government can be founded on a view that human folly, fueled by taxes, is a recipe for disaster.  But such thinking often evaporates in the mind of the small-government conservative when our government begins to plan $50 billion wars that become $500 billion wars. 

We may need one qualification, though:  If Bill Clinton says that we must go to war, he's just a naive, big-spending nation-builder; if a Republican says that we must go to war, he's a new Churchill. 

So maybe it begins with us vs. them politics domestically, then becomes an us vs. them issue globally.  And it could be summed up as, "it's not big, wasteful government when I'm doing the wasting."

All I Want for Xmas Is a Unanimous Resolution

We at this blog strongly believe in the separation of churches & state.  By this we mean that there should be no voting in churches, although voting booths should be conveniently located outside.  And we mean that legislators should have mandatory devotionals, although their chaplains should not have a vote. 

As for a separation between GAF and state, you're kidding, right?  You can't separate something that has American and Faith in its very name. 

So we are proud of  this act of warfare against "the war on Christmas" by the U.S. House, which represents a fine example of GAF's lobbying power.  (Hat tip to Timmy C. for the info.)  Still we are alarmed by the 9 nay votes.  Do not mess with the GAF lobby.  We will cut you off at the knees, and will call you a fascist bigot if you complain.