Scott Brown

Scott Brown wins in Massachusetts: Does it mean anything? Has something significant come out of the state of Lexington and Concord or will he just play Ken to Palin's evil Barbie in the press? Clearly the democrats are alarmed; Jim Webb is taking moral lessons from it. But the government cares little for the opinions of the public, whether through ideological certainty or simple arrogant disdain, so why would the election make a difference? It does imply more voter integrity than I expected; that itself may be important. But the train may have left here. The damage to the economy, the impact on the producers in the society, the disillusion that will likely follow, the decline in reward--then in living standards, the obvious government incompetence and its inexplicable tangle with financial interests, the suspicion that Obama may be more interested in ideological fulfillment than the nation's well being---all will contribute to an economic and psychological unwinding that will not end well. The distance that has grown between the government and the governed is now greater than the separation between church and state. The uplifting lesson the Brown election may give is that the victims seem to care.