On Government and Governance

[Stinky The Clown]

When we speak of "the government" in the US, we could be speaking about several things, depending on the context. The Congress and the White House are "the government." The Supremes are "the government." Your governor, state reps, mayor, and maybe chief of police are "government."

So, too, was Shirley Sherrod "the government." The people at the local Social Security office, the fireman, the FAA inspector, the guy who checks cargo manifests, the woman whlets contracts to get the town hall parking lot repaved and restriped, they're all "the government," too.

There really are two separate things when we talk about government. There are the career people who, by and large, do a pretty good job. Not perfect. But pretty damned good.

Then there are the political types. The elected ones and their appointed court jesters.

I think we need to separate the two groups. The elected ones are really about the governance of the country - setting policy.

The career workers in "the government" are more akin to a company. They do things they're charged with doing. In the loftier sense, they are not charged with deciding what to do so much as how to do it, to report when its done, and have that evaluated.

I think government works reasonably well. Again, not perfect. But not bad.

I think the governance sucks. And the suckatude is getting worse. We are reduced, of late, to choosing not the best, but the least worst.

That sucks. And that is what lots of people are angry about. Not really "the government" nearly as much as "the governance."