After Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) dealt the killing blow to the “skinny repeal” of Obamacare on Friday morning, one Democrat senator tweeted a terrifying paean to government activism.
“Last night proved, once again, that there is no anxiety or sadness or fear you feel right now that cannot be cured by political action,” declared Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.).
Last night proved, once again, that there is no anxiety or sadness or fear you feel right now that cannot be cured by political action.
— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) July 28, 2017
Murphy has still not removed the tweet, which has garnered over 1,500 “retweets” and over 7,00 “likes.” This statement was tantamount to a declaration that government can solve all worries — “anxiety or sadness or fear” — merely because the Democrats were successful in killing another iteration of the GOP’s efforts to repeal Obama’s signature health care law.
Allie Stuckey, a contributing host for TheBlaze, called Murphy out on this quasi-worship of government. “Lost a loved one? Got laid off? Battling depression? NO WORRIES! All can be cured via the gov: the most trustworthy means of overcoming hardship.”
Lost a loved one? Got laid off? Battling depression? NO WORRIES! All can be cured via gov:the most trustworthy means of overcoming hardship. https://t.co/LSzsQ5eHz9
— Allie Beth Stuckey (@conservmillen) July 28, 2017
When confronted by this, Murphy actually doubled down, responding to Stuckey, “I know everyone’s a little on edge this morning, but of course I’m talking about political anxiety, not being worried you left the stove on.”
I know everyone's a little on edge this morning, but of course I'm talking about political anxiety, not being worried you left the stove on. https://t.co/rUfqeOj5si
— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) July 28, 2017
Even this attempt to clarify his remarks was extremely offensive. After Murphy had claimed that “political action” can cure any “anxiety or fear or sadness you feel right now,” he dismissed what amounted to a restatement of his religious faith in government.
Murphy minimized the concerns Stuckey suggested — losing a loved one, getting laid off, or battling depression — by comparing them to a trivial “being worried you left the stove on.”
Are all anxieties, fears, and sadness that cannot be boiled down to “political anxiety” so trivial in Murphy’s eyes that they are to be compared with “being worried you left the stove on”? Losing a loved one, losing a job, and struggling with depression are real struggles that real people confront every day, and that the government cannot — and arguably should not — address, and yet Murphy trivialized them as “being worried you left the stove on.”
Various commentators have warned that the Democrats are culturally in trouble. They do not understand the real struggles of Americans, and dismiss a broad swath of voters as “deplorables” and “bitter clingers,” while pushing the same old big government policies.
But government is not the solution to every problem, and indeed it often creates more problems when it tries to solve them.
For all his faults, President Donald Trump was culturally in tune with America when he declared last week, “We believe that family and faith, not government and bureaucracy, are the foundation of our society.” Again and again, he declared, “We don’t worship government, we worship God.”
IN AMERICA WE DON'T WORSHIP GOVERNMENT – WE WORSHIP GOD!🎥https://t.co/jIejSgVnnA
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 26, 2017
Not all Americans worship God; many look to reason or spirituality, or some other fundamental ground on which to build — but it isn’t government. Government is not the savior, and most Americans know that.
And then there’s Chris Murphy.
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