"I don’t promote government failure, I expect it. And my expectations are met fairly often." - Radley Balko.

A Distinction | The Agitator:

"I don’t promote government failure, I expect it. And my expectations are met fairly often. What I promote is the idea that more people share my expectations, so fewer people are harmed by government failure, and so we can stop this slide toward increasingly large portions of our lives being subject to the whims, interests, and prejudices of politicians.

...When government fails, people like Dinauer and, well, the government claim it’s a sign that we need more government. 

...It’s a nifty trick. The right does it with national security. The fact that we haven’t had a major terrorist attack since September 11, 2001 proves that the Bush administration’s heavy-handed, high-security approach to fighting terrorism worked! But if we had suffered another attack, the same people would have been arguing that we need to surrender moreof our civil liberties to the security state. Two sides. Same coin..."