USA Today puts this headline article about attitudes toward government:
The analysis reveals a complicated landscape of beliefs: Most Americans endorse government activism on a range of issues — not only national defense but also the environment, civil rights and consumer protection — but doubt the competence of government to deliver results effectively and efficiently. (Emphasis mine)
Next to this story about civilian police work:
Police agencies across the country are recruiting thousands of civilians for a growing number of duties previously performed by uniformed cops, in an unusual concession to local budget cuts.
The positions — some paid and others volunteer — are transforming every-day citizens into crime-scene investigators, evidence gatherers and photographers in what some analysts suggest is a striking new trend in American policing. (Emphasis mine)
That’s today’s front cover of America’s most widely-distributed newspaper. Attempting to define segments of American opinion in the first article, nowhere does USA Today mention thirty years of “gummint-is-the-problem” governance. Instead, we are treated to “average Joe” quotes about “trust in government,”which is at an all-time low — but apparently not because of anything anyone did from 1981 until 2009.
See, it’s not that anti-government, anti-tax, pro-war “conservatives” have broken government; it’s just that Americans have magically lost their trust in it. And I imagine that when half-trained, poorly-paid civilians turn out to be bad replacements for police officers, it will be further evidence that “government doesn’t work.” See how that works?
