This is no wonder because all government is rotten, but the huge scale of Washington’s rottenness is such as to command our attention. The word “rotten” has 4 different meanings, and the U.S. government qualifies on all 4 counts. One, suffering from decay. Yes, Washington (as center of government) is filled with maggots and worms. Washington is a heap of garbage. Its policies stink and so do its pronouncements. An unpleasant spirit of deceit, lies, cover-ups and secrecy emanates from it and spreads. Two, morally, socially or politically corrupt. Any government that attacks and ruins one nation after another is morally bankrupt. Any government that surrenders to special interests is politically corrupt. Any government that spies relentlessly on its citizens, inflicts huge debts on its children, and treats drug users as criminals is socially corrupt. The lies and violence that Washington imposes on its subjects alone qualify it on this dimension. Three, very bad, meaning atrocious, inferior and substandard.
All governments are bad, and all U.S. governments have been bad. The current string of U.S. governments since the year 2000 is, however, if not worse then certainly a contender for being among the worst. Seldom have we seen such stupidity, idiocy, blindness and obtuseness in any U.S. governments since the Vietnam war. And the U.S. entry into and conduct of that war were totally rotten. The Bush and Obama governments have been particularly stupid, having blundered destructively and murderously through one foreign country after another and now confronting both Russia and China. Their financial mismanagement domestically has been stupendous. The waste has been horrific. Fourth, extremely unpleasant. Yes, the government has been frightfully bad, terrible and lousy. Has there been even one bright spot of even minor significance? Having recognized torture and spying, has anything come of it? One cannot expect louses to de-louse themselves.
Can decay of this scale be reformed? Not within the confines of current institutions, current politics and current beliefs of Americans. Washington got this way under the current rules of the political game, the current alignment of political forces and the current underlying beliefs and values of Americans. Conventional thinking will not clean these stables. Jeb Bush, Hillary Clinton and all the other putative candidates with conventional careers and beliefs promise only more of the same: rotten government.
http://www.lewrockwell.com/lrc-blog/america-has-rotten-government/
