Democrats on defensive over role of government

Things are spinning out of control. Out of control, at least, by government, and by the United States government in particular. You don’t have to spend much time reading the news — or monitoring your Twitter feed — to get that impression. Armed fighting in Ukraine. Islamic State beheadings in Iraq and Syria. Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators in Hong Kong.

Ebola spreading from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea to Dallas, Texas, where 100 people were exposed to the Liberian who lied to airport screeners and arrived in the United States with the disease. Or the Spanish nurse who came down with the disease.

No wonder embattled Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., stumbled when asked whether the Obama administration was handling Ebola well. He ran an ad in August accusing his Republican opponent, Rep. Tom Cotton, of somehow leaving the nation unprepared for the epidemic. But Pryor had nothing coherent to say this week.

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