Politics

Reason Writers Around Town: Matt Welch in the New York Post: "It's the Big Government, Stupid"

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In Sunday's New York Post, Reason Editor in Chief Matt Welch takes a look at attempts to divine meaning from this summer's mild political kerfuffles, and concludes that the simplest answer may be the most obvious one. Column begins like this:

It's been a hilarious August, watching media supporters of President Obama's health care package puzzle over the obscure motivations of the noncompliant Americans rallying against it.

"Racial anxiety," guessed New York Times columnist Paul Krugman.

"Nihilism," theorized Time's Joe Klein.

"The crazy tree blooms in every moment of liberal ascendancy," historian Rick Perlstein proclaimed in the Washington Post.

While the commentariat's condescension is almost comical, the whole evil-or-stupid explanation misses the elephant in Obama's room: Americans of all stripes, it turns out, aren't very keen about the government barging into their lives.

Whole thing, including a Top 10 list of Obama government grabs, here.