Monday, October 20, 2008

Boudreaux on Politicians

From Cafe Hayek this weekend...

It's a Difficult Job Saving Society

Don Boudreaux

Here's a letter that I sent yesterday to The State (of Columbia, SC):

Asked why he failed to disclose his receiving, free-of-charge, $250,000 worth of renovation work on his private residence, Sen. Ted Stevens explained, as you summarize it, "that some details may have gotten lost amid the busy life of a senator: the committee meetings, the long hours and the challenges that come with representing a state four time zones away" ("Stevens combative in questioning during trial," October 17).

I see the problem. And it suggests that Sen. Stevens (and his overworked, travel-weary colleagues in Congress) must also be unaware of the details that permeate those massive bailout bills, omnibus spending statutes, and other such pieces of legislation. No busy mortal can possibly keep track of these details. So it would be only right for Sen. Stevens and those Senators who've testified in his defense as character witnesses to renounce the vast bulk of legislation that they've passed as being filled with provisions too numerous and detailed for such busy pooh-bahs to have carefully pondered - or even to have noticed.

Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux

I can no more imagine myself behaving as a successful politician behaves -- kissing babies in public; telling strangers that I feel their pain; assuring strangers that I'm to be trusted to spend their money more wisely than then will spend it -- than I can imagine myself being a mosquito or a venus fly trap. It is simply inconceivable that any decent human being would behave in ways that the typical politician behaves.

And yet, so many people -- so many decent people -- believe in (or at least crave, child-like) secular salvation through secular saviors. It's no surprise, then, that persons unashamed to act deceitfully and disingenuously crawl out from under their rocks to pose as saviors.

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