quote of the day

This Malkin post about some idiocy within the Department of Homeland Security includes a great quote from the one and only Glenn Reynolds:

I think we're seeing a general meltdown in support for the entire governing class as the result of a perception (which is largely true) that it lacks the seriousness and self-restraint necessary to run a major nation.

And all right-thinking people said Amen. It's not just Bush and his cohorts that seem to be screwing things up. The vast majority of those on both sides of the aisle have been steadily increasing government's power and getting its hands of inefficiency and entanglement in all sorts of arenas it has no business playing in. But what else is new? We've been sliding down that slope for decades now.

The greater question is, How did we arrive here? Or better yet, how did this madness start? The answer lies in worldview I think, and that's a great discussion I don't have time for now, but suffice it to say that the people - the voters - are responsible. As I like to say, the populace is too stupid to govern itself.

So, now we find that prominent leaders of all stripes struggle to get support from a quarter of the population. Well, voters of America, if you elect a bunch of idiots based on empty promises, what should you expect to get? A government that reflects your own stupidity.

A representative government is only effective if its people have the sense and basic wisdom to make it work. Unfortunately, it seems those days are behind us here in the States. Hopefully we can bring them back.