WALTER RUSSELL MEAD: Why Nothing Is Shovel Ready Anymore: Part Two. “Drum’s post points toward, but doesn’t really analyze one of the contradictions at the heart of modern liberal policy. Relying on the government to do more and more, while also making the government more and more accountable to oversight and review by civil society is a recipe for stagnation and failure. With one hand the left gives government greater and greater mandates, making its smooth, swift and efficient operation ever more necessary to social health. With the other, it hobbles and strangles the processes of government in progressively (pun intended) greater amounts of red tape. There is just no way that this mix can produce anything but frustration.”