My colleague Byron York wrote in his Aug. 11 newsletter about a Fox News poll that asked people if they want the federal government to “lend [them] a hand” or “leave [them] alone.” Last summer was the only time in 10 years that more wanted help than wanted the feds to buzz off. Joe Biden swept into power on a temporary swing amid once-in-a-century circumstances when the pandemic racked confidence and the economy.
Normally, Americans prefer government off their backs. In 2011, ’12, ’14, ’16, ’19, and ’21, they opted for more freedom, not more help. This is the fundamental clash between ordinary people and the Left, which mistrusts freedom of all sorts. People want to live as they choose; that’s almost a tautology. Self-reliance is an admirable, traditional American trait, but Democrats are wearing it down by always and everywhere trying to expand central control and force people to live not as they wish but as they’re told. A friend of mine, author Quentin Letts, recently responded to this grating process with an entertaining book titled Stop Bloody Bossing Me About.
