Governments that don’t believe in governing, again.

Rob pointed out some time ago in this forum that when it comes to state-building, we should probably not expect the job to be done competently by those who have no faith whatsoever in the positive power of the state–those who treat state power as a means to either unencumber or assist members of their political coalition at the expense of the actual activity of governing. Last night I at Kos I saw another example of the utterly defeatist attitude this administration has about state power (when it serves them):

Bush also said high taxes on the rich are a failed strategy because “the really
rich people figure out how to dodge taxes anyway.”

Kos provides the necessary commentary, but the inanity and depravity of this statement as a political argument speaks for itself. When I first saw this post, I thought about how disastrous Bush is as an extemporanous speaker, and wondered if the press would identify this apparent gaffe and make anything of it (I wasn’t optimistic, but I thought it was possible. Outside the NYT, campaign coverage does seem a bit better this time around–Kerry isn’t quite getting the full Gore treatment, I think, and Bush isn’t necessarily untouchable).

So imagine my surprise when I return to Kos this morning and learn that

this line isn’t a gaffe, but a standard part of his stump speech.

Like Kos, I’m left speechless, except to say that one or more of the many obvious responses to this should immediately become a regular part of Kerry’s stump speech, and he should try to work this into the debates.