The Federal Government Haters

On this recent Memorial Day,  the television was filled with citizens full of patriotic verve.  Unfortunately there is a seriously growing element in our society who seems to think of our national government as a foreign power.  I wondered as I saw armed so-called patriots gather to defend a rancher if they are really patriots.  How can one be a loyal American who also professes not to even believe in the United States of America and obviously have little regard for the rule of law?  I wonder if those gathering and denigrating the United States would choose to live in any other nation.

Our federal government is us.  It is the United States of America.  Those who are quick to criticize and profess that government is totally inefficient--and should be reduced small enough to be drowned in a bathtub--have never thought of what our government does for us.

I wonder if these critics would feel comfortable flying in airspace uncontrolled by a government agency.  What if we simply let competition take care of our airways?  I wonder if the Tea Party leaders would feel comfortable hopping on a plane that perhaps was not the fastest or could fly the highest without air controllers guiding the flight. 

How about those of us who enjoy listening to a clear channel radio station or enjoying our favorite program on television?  What if we just let competition take care of that?  Our airways would be reduced to a mish-mash of stupid programs paid for by those with the most money.  It brings back thoughts of those super broadcast stations out of Mexico advertising the sale of autographed pictures of Jesus.

How about if we just let the oil companies pay for our waterways and keep them dredged?  How long do you think the waterways along the Neches would remain open and how many jobs would be lost when ships could no longer go from Sabine Pass to Beaumont? 

What about you Tea Partiers who live in Port Arthur-- how comfortable would you feel when the next hurricane hits, were it not for the 19' levee our government built around the city?  We wouldn't have federally subsidized flood insurance and you couldn't afford to buy it from private sources.

How about the weather warnings we get from a nationally funded weather service?  Perhaps some innovating television service station owner would spring for enough money to research our climate and let us know when we are about to be hit by a level 4 hurricane.  I doubt, however, that they would do it without a subscription fee, which would probably be more than our current cable TV.  Do you even think about the comfort that comes from having a federally insured savings account in your bank or think about the technology that the government sponsored aerospace explorations has brought in comfort to our daily lives?

I suppose the whole of the unthinking, so-called patriots is summed up by the fellow who said that he wanted government to keep its handsoff his social security and Medicare.  

America is still our country.  America is still the best nation in the world with all of its warts and foibles.  It still makes me grit my teeth when I hear people who so hate our form of government they would like to see it destroyed.  It also makes me wonder why we would vote to place our government in the hands of someone like that who hates it.