On Political Paradoxes

CATO's Christopher Preble makes a sage observation regarding how we talk about foreign policy:

Few people in Washington rise through the ranks by talking about what we can’t or shouldn’t do, which partly explains why the voices of restraint are almost always drowned out by the vocal few calling for action.

This is true, but it's also curious. Because on the domestic side of the fence, there are numerous high-level Washington voices urging government restraint (at least today). They're called Republicans. Yet this sentiment somehow vanishes at the water's edge. The same party that thinks the federal government can't adequately administer health care or set education standards nevertheless thinks that same government should be the vehicle for policing Asia, the Middle East and Europe and spreading freedom throughout the world. All of which requires, ahem, a very big government.

It's just a strange state of affairs.