Father Knows Best

I heard someone say a while back that the current administration and its policy wonks' actions reek with contempt for us, their constiuents. It is no wonder, then, that Bush et al have exceeded the limits of their power. The attitude coming from the think tanks is that we are no more mature than ten year olds and so must be protected from ourselves. Irritating. But what peeves me most about those in positions of authority who overstep their boundaries is that they think they are doing it for "our own good".

Hold on there, just a minute.

The only people who can do anything for us "for our own good" are people who know us. Only a long term, intimate relationship - like a father for his children, for example - can support this sort of knowledge.

Now, say what you will about the patrician attitudes of the ole TV show "Father Knows Best": it's premise is sound. People who have loved you and brought you into the world and kept you safe and fed and cuddled and disciplined and instructed and allowed you to become your own person can say that they will do something for your own good because they have the bona fides of a relationship to back it up. Our parents made decisions for us because it was for our own good and if we were blessed to have parents that were parents, we understand that and welcome it however grudgingly.

What nameless, faceless, you-don't-know-us bureaucrat can do that?

So, Bush Administration, make decisions for the good of the country but keep your father issues to yourself. I have a father, my father is a good man. Mr. President, you are not my father.

Pic found at: tvcrazy.net


ETA: Digby speaks too. And better.