Ironically, at home our national government is under continuing attack and subjected to ridicule. People are encouraged to think that government, particularly national government, is the main problem in our society and that we can cure all of our problems if enough welfare queens will go to work or if we simply eliminate enough taxes or regulations. And Lyndon Johnson launched the war against poverty. No problem seemed to big for us to solve. Politicians use focus groups and polls to find out what we do and don't want to hear and tailor their messages accordingly.
Politicians attack each other, appeal to fear and ignorance, divide to conquer.
They attack judges, the ACLU, environmentalists, and advocates of women's rights, gay rights, affirmative action. Like every other period, this one is temporary. The pendulum will swing the other way, in fact it may already have started. I am here teaching because it's the only place I've found that would let me teach American government and constitutional law to college students. But, more importantly, I want to inspire you to be more interested in your government and to take more seriously the responsibilities of citizenship in a republic, the job Ben Franklin said was the highest office in the land.