CROSSVILLE —
Whatever the mishap — the Space Shuttle accidents, the September 11 attack, the underwear and Times Square bomb scare, the East-Coast energy blackout, the economic meltdown — the government priesthood was quick on the scene to begin reciting the articles of faith of collective authority.
First came the now familiar mantra that accompanies every plane crash, NASA disaster, or train wreck: “We will find out what went wrong and fix it so it never happens again.”
The duplicity goes on and on: When terrorists kill U.S. diplomatic personnel in Libya, the Capitol gang assures us, “We’ll find out how they breached our security and fix it so it never happens again.” (Still, four months later, and nothing.) And when America slips over a Fiscal Cliff, the Washington Calvary, e.g. the gang that can’t shoot straight, is on hand to fix it so it never happens again. Then a crazy kid shoots up a classroom killing many and, predictably, the authorities assert, “We’ll find what went wrong and make sure it can’t happen again” and, just as predictably, they “know” the cause was "too many guns.”
Let me suggest he was just plain nuts and he could just well have used a hatchet, like the one which little George chopped down the cherry tree, creating the same amount of gore and human misery.
Of course, there will be future plane crashes and power failures, future opportunities for the technocrats to again recite this catechism. Despite dozens of committee hearings, the exercise of “finding out what happened and fixing it so will never happen again” is a futile one at best. There will always be another tomorrow with another hidden workforce of pixies and other mischief-makers and the meddling of government prepared to upset the best-engineered plans. As long as we are mired in the collective mindset of centralized authority, insisting that only government can save us, we shall doubtless continue our vicious circle of reacting to one disaster after another while deluding ourselves that “we will find out what went wrong and fix it so it doesn’t happen again.”
At the end of a thorough and truthful analysis of any of these mishaps, the politicians won’t be pleased by what they find. It’s not “capitalism.” It’s not “greed.” It’s not “deregulation.” Nor is it any of the other popular culprits. It’s an institution of interventionism created by government itself.
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Stumptalk is published weekly in the Crossville Chronicle. The opinions expressed in this column are not necessarily those of the Chronicle publisher, editor or staff. To contact Stumptalk, email coordinator Phil Billington at stumptalk@charter.net.
Opinion
Stumptalk: We’ll fix it so it never happens again
- Opinion
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LION AND THE LAMB: More than meets the eye
It was a quiet Saturday afternoon, and my wife Sheral suggested I join her on a shopping trip. In Crossville Sheral went inside a store and I stayed outside looking at the bargain specials. My mind was in neutral, so I almost missed the little boy’s question. He was about seven or eight, evidently had just seen his first Amish family, and they had seemed very strange to him.
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WE THE PEOPLE: No time to govern
Bob Dole’s tribute to George McGovern at the time of his death last year was both beautiful and touching. Speaking of the friendship they shared and the work they did together during their time in the Senate and later in retirement, Dole said McGovern “was one of the finest public servants I ever had the privilege to know.” He went on to say that they knew what they had in common was far more important than their different political philosophies.
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TIDBITS: Be wary of home improvement shows
Sometimes I think home improvement stores need a screening tool of some sort, perhaps some kind of licensing or reference check. For example, before one can walk in and buy that handy dandy table saw, they need three people to vouch that they aren’t likely to cut off a bodily appendage.
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STUMPTALK: Obama’s Benghazi betrayal
“Betrayal” is an ugly word. “To fail or desert especially in a time of need.” Those who pay attention to the actions of Obama are justified in saying we have been betrayed. Think about the IRS and DOJ debacles. Clearly our ambassador and his staff at the Benghazi consulate were betrayed, deserted in their time of mortal need. Obama allowed them to be murdered.
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Lion and the Lamb: When schools go beyond the three Rs
The three Rs, reading, ‘riting and ‘rithmetic, have always been at the foundation of education in Cumberland County. Recently, however, a fourth R has been added — religion. In permission was granted representatives of The Gideons International to distribute Bibles to fifth-graders in the Brown Elementary School in Crossville, and this took place April 11.
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We the People: Your vote — use it or lose it
A powerful faction within the Republican Party is determined to downsize our federal government. They want to reshape programs that originated to protect common folks like us.
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Stumptalk: The elephant in the room
I recently saw video footage of the president surrounded by the heads of all the services; they had assembled to address the continuing and scandalous problem of sexual harassment in the armed forces. The elephant in the room, of course, was young women in the military serving in close quarters with young men.
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We the People: Reality check, anyone?
Harry Truman had a birthday anniversary in early May. Harry was proud of being from the “show me” state. Republicans who aspire to stop all progress and set the clock back should take a lesson from Truman. He did something besides complain and obstruct progress.
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The Lion and the Lamb: The devil and the IRS
National news these past several weeks has focused on a scandal in the Internal Revenue Service. IRS agents have been targeting Tea Party and other conservative groups for additional scrutiny when they applied for tax-exempt status. As this story developed over the past several weeks, however, it has become apparent that the IRS problem is much greater than the complaints raised by the Tea Party.
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Tidbits: What's in a name?
Being born in the time before routine ultrasounds, my parents thought I was going to be a boy. I'm not sure if mom was carrying high or low, or if the wedding ring on a string went one way or the other, or what other old wives tale was used to determine I would be a he rather than a she, but that's what they thought and that's how they prepared.
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