“WELL, IT SURE SOUNDED GOOD…”

5/16/10

Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass devoted his Sunday, 5/16/10 column to singing the virtues of Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels, touting him as the “un-Obama” and ending his column with “And I don’t think we’ve heard the last from Mitch Daniels.”

Clearly, I had to respond, and I thought I’d share that response with my readers:

5/16/10

I don’t think you’re right on Mitch Daniels, John. Daniels sounds good, as do most Republicans, when he spews pabulum like

“There are those who said democracy can work only when you have certain virtues. Self reliance, personal responsibility, willingness to set aside personal gratification. And when those atrophy—the Founding Fathers were worried about this—when those virtues weaken, then the whole enterprise is threatened.”

and (as you put it)

Republicans have “lost their way and lost their birthright” for their addiction to overspending.

Yes, as do most Republicans, Mr. Daniels talks a very good game. But their actions belie their words. Mitch Daniels, for example, was director of the Office of Management and Budget for George W. Bush, and thus, after his boss, was the person most responsible for turning a gargantuan federal surplus into an even more gargantuan federal deficit. And yet he spews anodyne words about “self reliance, personal responsibility, willingness to delay gratification.” Yeah, for everybody but the politicians and those who bankroll their exercises in self-aggrandizement.

Mr. Daniels’ problem is endemic to just about every Republican, with a few exceptions like Ron Paul and, to a lesser extent, Chuck Hagel. While all GOPers (or at least all “professional” GOPers; i.e., officeholders, wannabe officeholders, and assorted hangers-on. Many, if not most, grassroots Republicans really do believe in the principles to which Mr. Daniels pays syrupy lip service.) supported the Bush administration with the ardor of Mr. Daniels, all were there supporting “our president” as he laid the foundations of what can best be described as the Bush/Obama administration.

And, by the way, those virtues of self-reliance, responsibility, willingness to set aside personal gratification? While they still exist in small quantities in obscure corners of our once great nation, they are nearly extinct and thus our Republic is doomed. And no politician or political party is going to change that; indeed, those barnacles on the ship of state actively aided and abetted our nation’s swift decline into mediocrity…or far worse.

On that happy note, keep up the good work, John…and read my book, The Chairman, A Novel of Big City Politics.