“Issues of government competence ... have to be dealt with.”

The title of today's essay is a quote.  We will identify the source below.  Please read on.

It is so easy to be critical of others and so difficult to be critical of oneself. The applicable fundamental can be sourced way back. Way back to the New Testament. It has to do with pointing out the speck in your neighbor’s eye and not dealing with the log in your own.

Two other fundamentals at play. Chickens coming home to roost. What goes around, comes around.

TheFundamentals is not, was not and never will be a supporter of much that was Bush II. This essay is not about Bush II. It’s about actions speaking much louder than words; introspection; challenging your own beliefs and waking up to smell the coffee. We saw little evidence that Bush II ever ran into the wall of introspection. Fortunately for us all he did run into the 22nd amendment to the constitution.

Why are we playing so much to clichés and tired sloganeering? Only to illustrate that these hackneyed phrases are the main arrows in the quiver of the most politicians. Confidence in government is so misplaced by this administration and the previous fourteen or so, that their behavior is an exact replica of the behavior of the king and his court in the story of the emperor’s new clothes. In this tale, the vain emperor, seeking to continually secure the approval of the sycophants around him; with an endless need for praise and glory; with an insatiable appetite for flattery and reinforcement of plans, programs and talking points finally does himself in, in the eyes of one of his smallest subjects. The emperor parades around naked, so proud of his new outfit, and only one child can see clearly that the buffoon is, in fact, naked. No covering. No camaflouge; no protection. And so it goes with the man who cannot see.

We have the audacity to hope that this wake up call, this terrible event caused by man punching uncontrolled holes in the ocean depths will finally be the wake up call to a true leader who will recognize that there are forces and rules and powers at play far beyond the mere equipment that man has developed to wreak havoc. Call them what you will. We call them TheFundamentals. If you only believe in yourself you will never see beyond your own myopia. If you cannot self inspect you will never challenge or change behavior. If you stick with yesterday’s position, tomorrow will repeat yesterday’s consequences.

Government is not the answer; it is not the solution; it is not a panacea; it can only be controlled and that condition requires a constant 24/7 awareness of these simple truths. Government only works when it is a servant and not the master. The people are the master. Today the master works for the servant. And it has been so for much of recorded time.  And the consequences are reaching disastrous levels for the people all over the globe.

In the John Adams quotes we published a week ago, there is one very accurate and prophetic statement - “While all other sciences have advanced, that of government is at a standstill - little better understood, little better practiced now than three or four thousand years ago.” Does it have to be this way? Of course not. It does come down to the vain and self serving people that are drawn to and occupy government positions. Will the new young president be different? Early returns suggest, no. Quite the contrary. More government, more spending, more laws, longer laws, more special interest protection, more pandering to the servants. It does not have to be this way.

We close with the source of the quote above, “Issues of government competence in the response have to be dealt with.” – BHObama, September 11, 2005. Obama’s Subject: Bush II’s handling of the Katrina aftermath. BHObama fell into the trap of examining the speck in his neighbor’s eye. Well, today, if he does wake up and smell the coffee, he can look at the log in his own. Will he? Will this wakeup call produce a change? Will he realize that the protected, unionized, overpaid inmates that now run the asylum can only be replaced by him? Or will he call for even more government? More plans? More programs? More rules? More laws? More bureaucrats? More spending? More government employees? More benefits and pensions? More incompetence?

These lessons were lost on Bush II and many of his predecessors. All Bush II did was spend and spend; pile deficit upon deficit and build debt to unheard of levels. Obama has seized the mantle and tripled the deficit spending and multiplied the debt. Where will it all end? Who will deal with the issue of government incompetence? Mr. Obama, you asked the question a mere 4 ½ years ago. That discomfort you feel can only be described as a log in your eye.  It is OK to deal with it.  If you don't deal with it you will do irreparable damage to the United States.  Mr. Obama, many of us would like a real answer to the very question you posed.