Ever since the election last year, conservatives have been whining about socialists, fascists, tyranny, and any other scary-sounding word they can think of. They somehow think that our shitty little attempt at a real universal health care system with a neutered public option (maybe...in some places...for some people) is comparable to the mass executions at Dachau.
Even worse, the media seems all to happy to report on this as if it's some sort of valid criticism from a legitimate political party. Barack Obama, "moderates", and the talking heads all scream about "BIPARTISANSHIP!" as if that's really the only thing that matters and worth achieving.
It's time to start calling out conservatives for what they are: Anarchists.
Anarchism is the belief that no government should exist because it can only bring about evil, oppression, tyranny, ineffectiveness, etc. Call it a "Free-market Solution to Governance - Extra Liberty Edition." The code words are all there. Grover Norquist, Ronald Reagan, etc have all said as much: the government IS the problem so get rid of it and let the invisible hand take over.
As demonstrated the last eight years, the conservative style of governance is basically to screw everything up so badly that it ends up undermining the entire notion of government. Thomas Frank describes these efforts in his book "The Wrecking Crew." The people they place in leadership positions usually don't believe the organizations they are leading (such as John Bolton and the UN).
This strategy has a two-pronged effect, the first of which is to actively dismantle good government by turning successful programs (like FEMA in the 90's) into four-letter words.
The second effect comes after they finally screw things up so bad, the people finally kick their asses to the curb. Now that Democrats and progressives control government, all they have to do is yell "FEMA" and the like and it conjures up incompetence and ineffectiveness in people's minds.
And don't count on the media to point out the disconnect between progressive governance and conservative "governance." Since it's government, it's bureaucracy; since it's bureaucracy, it's bad. Four legs good, two legs bad. They've actually managed to hamstring ANY effort to rebuild government because they've basically planted the idea in everyone's head that government just doesn't work.
It's kind of like you have two mechanics designing a car: one that believes cars are a good thing and will improve the quality of life for people and another that uses a horse and buggy and believes cars to be the devil. Allowing the horse and buggy "mechanic" any input over the design of the components would be basically allowing him the opportunity to sabotage the car to only prove his later point: that cars don't work. A "bipartisan" solution produces square wheels and everyone watches as the car clunks along into a spectacular crash into a ditch. The horse and buggy "mechanic" then proudly steps out of the wreck and says "I told you it wouldn't work, but you better leave me in charge of designing cars 'cause THAT guy actually thinks they could work."
Bipartisanship is well and good but only when it happens with an opposition party that actually has an interest in producing a good outcome. To treat the modern-day Republican party and their "ideas" as legitimate and worthy of any sort of attention or validation is a laughable. Bipartisanship with this Republican party will only lead to "square wheels" that help prove their point about governmental incompetence.
Next time you hear a conservative talking about small government, you'll know what they're talking about. Replace the word "small" with "no". All you need to do is tell them to move to a place like Somalia if they really want to live without an "oppressive government."
P.S. This is my first diary so let me know if I screwed up in any way.
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