Pop Culture ---> Politics

So, I was watching some of the DVD extras on my Simpsons discs last night, and there was a little feature on the fuss that ensued when Barbara Bush criticized the show in a newspaper interview and Bush, Sr. later said in a speech that the American family ought to be "more like The Waltons and less like The Simpsons" (to much cheering, I might add). It was all kind of cute and funny, actually, but I found, somewhat to my surprise, that listening to that tiny clip of Bush's speech made me feel really, viscerally angry. Probably I'm oversensitive from all the mess stirred up by the last election. But it raised a question in my mind, and it's not actually a rhetorical question, because I'd really like to hear an explanation or something from someone who has a different view of these things than I do, because I clearly don't understand the mindset at all.

Here's the thing: The statement that preceded the Waltons/Simpsons line was a highly impassioned promise that the Bush administration was deeply dedicated to the goal of "strengthening the American family." Now, what I want to know is this (putting aside for the moment any separate issues I might -- OK, do -- have with Bush's definitions of "strengthening" and "family"): How the hell is it the job of the government to strengthen families? I mean, my understanding of the reason we have governments is to do things that are for the common good but which, as individuals it is impractical or impossible for us to do for ourselves. So it's the government's job to build things like roads which are for the public use, to defend the country, to enforce the rule of law, even to provide for the poor. But I can't for the life of me see how "family" comes under that purview. Is Bush saying that Americans aren't capable of keeping their own families "strong," whatever the hell he means by that, or deciding for themselves what "strength" means to their families? Is he saying that my relationship with my family is as much the government's concern as my relationship to the public roads, or the police? He is, isn't he?

OK. Deep breath. Done with political rant now. Really and truly.

Umm... So, hey, there were some great Simpsons episodes in season 4, weren't there?