Peggy Noonan writes for the Wall Street Journal about The Big Alienation:

It is not that no one’s in control. Washington is full of people who insist they’re in control and who go to great lengths to display their power. It’s that no one takes responsibility and authority. Washington daily delivers to the people two stark and utterly conflicting messages: “We control everything” and “You’re on your own.”

All this contributes to a deep and growing alienation between the people of America and the government of America in Washington.

Emphasis added.

None of this happened overnight. It is, most recently, the result of two wars that were supposed to be cakewalks, Katrina, the crash, and the phenomenon of a federal government that seemed less and less competent attempting to do more and more by passing bigger and bigger laws.

Folks want to think it’s because Obama got elected. He may have been the straw that broke the backs (and not because of the color of his skin, but because of his politics and attitude), but Noonan has it right… it’s been a while in coming.

She brings some interesting perspective about the Arizona SB 1070 situation:

Which brings us to Arizona and its much-criticized attempt to institute a law aimed at controlling its own border with Mexico. It is doing this because the federal government won’t, and because Arizonans have a crisis on their hands, areas on the border where criminal behavior flourishes, where there have been kidnappings, murders and gang violence. If the law is abusive, it will be determined quickly enough, in the courts. In keeping with recent tradition, they were reading parts of the law aloud on cable the other night, with bright and sincere people completely disagreeing on the meaning of the words they were reading. No one knows how the law will be executed or interpreted.

Every state and region has its own facts and experience. In New York, legal and illegal immigrants keep the city running: They work hard jobs with brutal hours, rip off no one on Wall Street, and do not crash the economy. They are generally considered among the good guys. I’m not sure New Yorkers can fairly judge the situation in Arizona, nor Arizonans the situation in New York.

You know the expression… walk a mile in a man’s shoes, or in this case I guess Arizona’s.

Which leads to some further perspective:

The establishments of the American political parties, and the media, are full of people who think concern about illegal immigration is a mark of racism. If you were Freud you might say, “How odd that’s where their minds so quickly go, how strange they’re so eager to point an accusing finger. Could they be projecting onto others their own, heavily defended-against inner emotions?” But let’s not do Freud, he’s too interesting. Maybe they’re just smug and sanctimonious.

I’m not sure I agree with Noonan that fixing the border should be priority #1 and would suddenly solve everything. In fact, she herself points out the reason this issue is being treated like it is is because it risks the largest growing segment of voters: Mexicans and other Hispanics. On the one hand, you can’t blame the politicians for wanting to keep their jobs. On the other, my kingdom for a politician that cares about something greater than himself!

This isn’t a discussion about SB 1070, merely pointing out that the growing unrest in this country has been a while in coming, and ignoring or marginalizing it isn’t going to make it go away; in fact, it only serves to feed it.