How do we deserve these morons?

Yesterday I heard our new governor, Jan Brewer, the Republican former Secretary of State who succeeded Democratic Governor Janet Napolitano, speaking on the local NPR station. Some of the things she said were breathtaking. It is hard to understand how such retrograde fools get into public office.

Well, no it’s not. One of her proud constituents called in to ask her when she was going to abolish all-day kindergarten, a blandishment Governor Napolitano fought long and hard to establish. He remarked that all-day kindergarten, which has been shown to improve children’s school performancesubstantiallyover the long run, is “nothing but day care for working mothers.”

So, I guess we get what we deserve: we raise up ignoramuses in our third-rate public schools, and we get ignoramus voters and ignoramus leaders in state and national office.

Brewer took several opportunities to repeat the local Republicans’ party line: that all of the state’s financial problems can be laid squarely on the shoulders of former Governor Napolitano. Every economic woe that afflicts us, from the collapsed real estate market to the government’s emptied coffers, are 100 percent her fault. As though no national and international economic crisis ever happened; as though the state of Arizona existsin its own little vacuumindependent of the rest of the world, its fate determined solely by an evil Democratic governor. And as though our fine Republican leadership had never heard the concept that we must work together to solve this mess (they probably haven’t: remember, these are members of the party that elected another governor who admitted to never reading anything but the Bible).

Apparently these people are totally unrepentant, and they are incapable of understanding that their bankrupt and now discredited “philosophy” (not to say “doctrine”) is what led to the collapse of the U.S economy. It would be wise to keep this in mind come the next elections. There are still people in office who have learned nothing from the present disaster.

A note to the governor, sent this morning:

Dear Governor Brewer:

I would like to let you know how offensive and small-minded your comments about your predecessor sound. This sort of back-biting and nastiness is exactly the opposite of the leadership our state needs in these difficult times. When I hear you and your colleagues speaking in this way, I can only conclude that none of you have learned a thing from the fiasco your party’s misguided thinking has caused our country. Frankly, it makes you look not too bright.

Please quit it. And let’s show a little humanity and intelligence, instead of vengeful and nasty meanness now that your party is back in power here and can get away with any damnfool thing you like.