Mantra of the Government and Media: ‘It Almost Worked’
I owe a debt of gratitude to a friend of mine that shared a devotional about how “almost” just doesn’t cut it in God’s economy. The bottom line was, “I almost became a Christian” just won’t do. We’re all familiar with the saying that almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades (or bombs in general). Yet, somehow we have grown used to government initiatives that “almost” accomplish their objectives. I thought that FEMA almost did a good job in serving the hurricane Sandy victims as I read this Wall Street Journal headline, “6 Months After Sandy, Thousands Homeless in NY, NJ”.
Here’s a list of more government “almost”s:
We almost won the war on drugs and the war on poverty.
The Postal Service and Amtrak (and all government mass transit) almost pay for themselves.
We almost reduced unemployment.
We almost saved Medicare.
We almost made affordable health care available to all.
We almost reformed our education system and left no child behind.
I almost “cut the debt in half in my first term.”
We almost won the election.
We almost secured the border
We almost stopped the terrorists.
The disease isn’t just limited to government. It’s spread to the media establishment as well. We almost found out the truth about what happened in Fast and Furious, Benghazi, Vince Foster’s suicide, Ron Brown’s airplane crash/ bullet in the head, Whitewater and the Rose Law Firm, Hillary’s cattle futures purchases, TWA flight 800 and the middle eastern man that was working with Tim McVeigh. But the establishment media doesn’t really want to know the truth about these things because it might damage some of their political benefactors.
Thinking of the Sandy victims again, what is a “good job” of federal disaster relief? What defines success? More importantly, what defines a problem and a need for a government solution? Liberals have been winning the public debate for the past century because we have ceded control of the language and the terms. With the notable exception of Reagan, conservatives have relied upon politicians who haven’t been able to challenge liberal definitions.
