Politikos Haverford

Debate over public policy these days has been stretched over such a wide spectrum that a Presidential candidate finds he has to defend the whole idea of government. Rick Santorum explained to a group of Texans about a week ago that he is against people who say we need no government (Llano Texas News, February 15, 2012). He supports the Tea Party people who are for limited government…I guess some people might get confused, since he questioned the value of public education; later clarified to stating that he is opposed to the national or state governments running the schools ( Philadelphia Inquirer, February 20, 2012).

In Llano, Texas, Santorum also offered a bit of constitutional interpretation, as well, observing that “the Second Amendment is there to protect the First Amendment.” So if people are permitted to pack guns to protect e.g., peaceable assembly; is he in favor of the “Occupy” folks shooting back at the police who have been dispersing them? That might be interesting.

“The less government the better…” Emerson said that. “Self-reliance” is one of his signature essays. Sounds great, very American, until the economy falters, and even the Santorums of the world might need help. The Santorums did not refuse Pennsylvania funds for home schooling (even though they lived in the Washington, DC area). Yes, we can defend our homes with our firearms, but suppose it burns down or is attacked by anarchists. That’s when public support is necessary; how many of us would insist on only volunteer help?

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 21st, 2012 at 3:49 pm by Harvey Glickman and is filed under Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.