I’m in the majority.
That doesn’t happen often, by the way. Although in this instance I’m not surprised.
To be honest, I’m surprised we’re not all in the majority on this particular issue. It shocks me that anyone would disagree with me on this one.
The issue is simply this: Do you trust the federal government?
A whopping 78 percent of those polled in a Pew Research Poll released Sunday said they don’t believe that Washington can fix what ails us. That means, though, that 22 percent said they think Washington is on the right path.
Imagine if you will that you’re at dinner with nine of your closest friends. Statistically speaking, two of them think the feds are going to fix everything. Not to be judgmental, but you should choose your friends better because two in nine of them are idiots. Of course, I’m assuming that you’re in the majority, too.
A lot of people read this column, though, so I know you can’t all be in the majority. There are some of your reading this right now who are really upset because I just called you an idiot. There are others, of course, who aren’t upset because you didn’t know I was talking about you. This proves my point all the more.
I’d apologize if I were sorry, but … come on! If you are one of those in the minority, I have to ask you; “What are you thinking?”
I can’t for the life of me fathom what would lead any thinking American to believe that the federal government is capable of fixing anything, much less everything.
This isn’t a Democrat and Republican issue, by the way. It’s across the board. And although the distrust level is at its highest rate in decades, it isn’t something that just happened. It has been slowly creeping up little by little with each passing administration and congressional class.
What does this mean, really? It means that those of us in the majority really need to step up and do something. Elect some different people. Run for office ourselves. Something. Anything.
I mean … twenty-two percent? I think England had a higher favorable rating during the revolution. Which explains how fringe groups like the Tea Party come into existence and gain such popularity.
This should be great for the GOP come November. The mid-term elections tend to swing a little bit in favor of the minority party no matter what. Given the perfect storm we’ve got this year between the high level of anti-government sentiment and the mid-terms, and the Republicans should pick up dozens of seats in the house and a handful in the senate.
Ironically, this will add even greater chaos and will allow the feds to accomplish even less.
The preceding sentence may sound like I’m condemning the thought of a GOP sweep in 2010, but you wouldn’t be further from the truth.
Fact of the matter is, I’m a bit of a fan of chaos. And I don’t want the government to accomplish much. I prefer gridlock. When the government “accomplishes” things it tends to cost us money and further limit our ever-dwindling freedoms.
In other words, while I am in the majority on the issue of whether or not I believe the government can fix our ills, I’m probably in the minority if the question is “do you want them to?”
I prefer being in the minority, frankly. I’m used to it.