LETTER: Conservative view of government inconsistent
The tragedy in East Palestine, Ohio, has the words of former U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen echoing in my head.
Cohen stated, “Government is the enemy until you need a friend”.
This sums up the inconsistency in the conservative view of limited government, with regard not only to deregulation, but also the expected role of government. In all fairness, The Washington Post has fact-checked what is known about the train derailment to determine if Trump-era changes to railroad regulations were responsible for the crash. So far, the answer is probably not.
However, this does not let conservatives off the hook for hypocrisy. Conservative pundits are criticizing the Biden administration for their actions. Or conversely, lack of action, which is not true. Please research Biden’s efforts to rebuild the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which has suffered under all administrations, but especially so under Republican administrations. Please do so in the correct context of long-term Republican criticism of not only the EPA, but the EPA’s mission.
Indeed, add even more context and include the (in)famous words of Ronald Reagan. He stated that the nine most terrifying words in the English language are, “I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.”
It is fair to criticize incompetence, but the conservative criticism touches on the very idea of governance. I encourage readers to really ponder the basic question: What is the role that government should play in our lives? I believe that in doing so, the answer is obvious — the Democratic Party has the most consistent philosophy. They believe in government and act like it, even if the solutions are not perfect, both in formulation and implementation. Compare that to conservatives, who demonize the very idea of governance, but paradoxically want to have power in the government. Some of the masses have internalized the inconsistency, which leads to the following: “Get the government off our backs and out of our pockets. Just help me when things go amiss and don’t cut my social services”.
John Moretti
Claysville