Melvin: Government is about police and prisons. Schools? Not so much

by David Safier

I caught this on NPR around 8 this morning, so I don't have a transcript with the exact quotation.

The story was about the police state anti-immigration bill awaiting Brewer's I'm-hoping-but-I-don't-have-much-hope veto.

Senators were speaking from the floor before casting their votes.

Al Melvin said, basically:

This bill is about public safety. Public safety is the government's primary responsibility. It's more important than education. It's more important than health care. Government's job is to keep you safe.

If Melvin were a smarter man, he would have stopped with the public safety thing. But Cap'n Al is a poster child for Freud's observation that we reveal ourselves by what we say. And what Melvin revealed was his attitude that schools are not an important government responsibility — that's why God made private schools, I guess — and health care? If you're lucky, you'll have a government health care plan (like Al), so if you need cancer treatment, you won't bankrupt yourself and your family. If not, bummer for you.

Oh Cap'n, my Cap'n! You are one mean spirited, unempathetic son of a bitch.