Newshoggers Comments
Antidemocratic advocacy needs to be watched very carefully. There are very tight connections between generic authoritarians, the Christianist reconstructionist movement and the security apparatus. Federal law enforcement and the intelligence services are infested with people whose loyalty lies with the worship of authoritarian power rather than with constitutional government.
What people like Sowell say in public is said in private by many members of the rank and file in TLA organizations from the NSA to the DoJ. Right wing advocacy of violent revolution will never be investigated or prosecuted precisely because the people who should be doing the investigating agree with the idea of authoritarian government in principle.
And then there's the minor matter that the Christianists have quietly formed their own private army in the form of
Blackwater:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/20...4/29/10301/
1721
It is indeed true that under normal circumstances, as envisaged by the founding fathers, the rule of law, separation of powers, etc. are sacred principles, not to be toyed with lightly. But the current times, especially after last year's elections are hardly normal. For our system of government to work correctly, all the branches of government should share a common purpose in advancing the welfare of our nation. After the fall election, President Bush and the Congressional Republicans extended their hand in bipartisan friendship. And what was the response? After some hypocritical posturing, the Democrat leadership spat in the President's face. But more importantly they went hellbent on a spree to sabotage our entire system of government, with reckless abandon, ignoring the damage that they are inflicting. Most notable, of course, has been the unfathomable irresponsibility of defunding our troops in the middle of war. But this is only the latest outrage. The list could go on for many pages, but let me mention only a few. Removing the best UN ambassador we ever had. Endless "investigations" based on the flimsiest pretexts, with the intention of bringing executive departments to a grinding halt. Persecution of able and honorable administration officials out of sheer vindictiveness. Conspiring with foreign interests to drive our representatives out of international organizations. I could go on and on, but my heart would burst with outrage.
So if one of the branches of government willfully acts against our national interests, the normal constitutional processes can't work as intended. So what is the President to do? Lie down and play dead and hope that they will eventually come to their senses? I would hope not! There have been other democracies which faced similar challenges in the past and were blessed with capable leaders who did what they needed to in order to straighten things out. India under Indira Gandhi and Chile under Augusto Pinochet come to mind. After weathering the storms, these countries have come back as bigger and better democracies than ever.
Read Mansfield's article rather than Greenwald's description.
Mansfield is talking about proper use of the presidential veto and similar powers in the constitutional framework.
The American Constitution is a formal law that establishes an actual contention among its three separated powers. Its formality represents the rule of law, and the actuality arises from which branch better promotes the common good in the event, or in the opinion of the people. In quiet times the rule of law will come to the fore, and the executive can be weak. In stormy times, the rule of law may seem to require the prudence and force that law, or present law, cannot supply, and the executive must be strong.
Using extreme language like: totalitarian takeover, suspension of law, coups etc. just makes people look silly.
I see the 28% pod people are out...
nabalzbbfr: "For our system of government to work correctly, all the branches of government should share a common purpose in advancing the welfare of our nation."
Very astute of you to notice that. But can you make the connection that government in the US has been dysfunctional since 2000 precisely because the GOP has *no* interest in advancing the welfare of the nation?
Government does not and cannot work when it is dominated by a movement interested only in advancing its own welfare at the expense of everyone else.
Thanks G&B, for stating the obvious to the Kool-Aid snorters (they gave up drinking it, the just stick the raw powder up their noses for a stronger hit.
Mansfield's talking about a President taking the law into his own hands and constitutional balance be damned. There's no nice way to disguise that.
As for nabalzbbfr citing Pinochet as a good example...sheebus. That's just insane. Pinochet is exactly the kind of guy the words totalitarian torturing dictator should be used.
Regards, C
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