Politics

Please don't mistake my reference to Lincoln's use/abuse of his executive powers as an endorsement... I am simply pointing out Lincoln as arguably the most famous historical example of what a POTUS will do when they feel they have no other options to forward their agendas. There where some in Congress making a case to impeach Lincoln for his alleged abuses of power. Had he not been assassinated, it may have happened, but we will never know..

Executive powers are broad and often non-specific in the Constitution especially in regard to war powers and national emergencies. This is where it gets really slippery. Is this by design of the framers? I don't know.. In the Federalist Papers, Hamilton argued adamantly to ensure that that the Chief Executive's power be broad and expansive. When his critics accused him of lobbying for a king by another name, Hamilton really only offers the singular counter argument that a king is an inherited power for life, while a POTUS is elected by his citizenry every 4 years.. There is some very interesting stuff in the Federalist Papers. It's a hard read, but very revealing..



Hi Doug3006,

From your quote above, I'm not sure if you inadvertently added my quote again, or are trying to say that I am the one commenting from the perspective of a perfect system??

In any case, I agree once again.. The system we have is not perfect, but by far the best compared to any other...

I think Churchill's quote says it best:

"Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.…"

On this topic, I am only trying to say is that the reality is that it happens and will continue to happen... With that reality, I absolutely tolerate an imperfect process by a POTUS that we elect to implement ANY measures necessary to save this country form itself. We are in crisis and emergency..

Getting back to the original conversation where I stated that Trump could accomplish a great deal with executive orders alone, are you saying that all executive orders are unconstitutional?
Hi @BSO Dave! I meant to copy a sentence from your post to comment on. but come to think of it, it works the other way too! We are in agreement that perfection is not obtainable. But I don’t think that perfection should even be the goal. The system we have works great. Better than any other political system devised by man. Tinkering with it, like giving the president lawmaking powers, leads us to misery. When we begin to trust a man, any man, to save us from ourselves, we make a fools bargain. No matter how worthy that man is, sooner or later we’re gonna have a fool in office. The precedent will have been set. And there is no undoing it, short of impeachment. It’s time that we start electing representatives to make laws, a President to execute the law, and a judiciary to read the letter of the law when there’s a dispute.
 
Please don't mistake my reference to Lincoln's use/abuse of his executive powers as an endorsement... I am simply pointing out Lincoln as arguably the most famous historical example of what a POTUS will do when they feel they have no other options to forward their agendas. There where some in Congress making a case to impeach Lincoln for his alleged abuses of power. Had he not been assassinated, it may have happened, but we will never know..

Executive powers are broad and often non-specific in the Constitution especially in regard to war powers and national emergencies. This is where it gets really slippery. Is this by design of the framers? I don't know.. In the Federalist Papers, Hamilton argued adamantly to ensure that that the Chief Executive's power be broad and expansive. When his critics accused him of lobbying for a king by another name, Hamilton really only offers the singular counter argument that a king is an inherited power for life, while a POTUS is elected by his citizenry every 4 years.. There is some very interesting stuff in the Federalist Papers. It's a hard read, but very revealing..



Hi Doug3006,

From your quote above, I'm not sure if you inadvertently added my quote again, or are trying to say that I am the one commenting from the perspective of a perfect system??

In any case, I agree once again.. The system we have is not perfect, but by far the best compared to any other...

I think Churchill's quote says it best:

"Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.…"

On this topic, I am only trying to say is that the reality is that it happens and will continue to happen... With that reality, I absolutely tolerate an imperfect process by a POTUS that we elect to implement ANY measures necessary to save this country form itself. We are in crisis and emergency..

Getting back to the original conversation where I stated that Trump could accomplish a great deal with executive orders alone, are you saying that all executive orders are unconstitutional?
No, I didn't mean to infer you were endorsing Lincoln's abuse of power. I know you were just pointing out his actions during the Civil War. I just wanted to say that I really enjoy these political/historical discussions here with various members. Most, if not all the people I know including my wife, could give a "rat's ass" about our country's history or most politics. Everything is in real time with them and looking for the next best thing happening NOW. Most of the younger people I know don't watch ANY news (TV, phone, etc.) and have no clue what's going on here and/or in the World today. But they can pull up a thousand music/comedic You Tube or Tik Tok videos. I've tried to explain to them that history tends to repeat itself and if one isn't paying SOME attention to things outside of THEIR world, bad things can and do happen. They're getting a good dose of that for example now with inflation and interest rates spiking. Many thought and grew up as young(er) adults with the 0-2% inflation and home mortgages at 2.5-4% for the better part of the last 13 years. I've explained to them that period in time was a once in a lifetime financial anomaly. You could hear a pin drop in the room with my younger coworkers when I told them my first mortgage was 14% and car loan was 18%. Anyway, a couple of them wanting to buy a home f***** around for the last three or four years and now couldn't qualify for a loan and probably won't for many years. They weren't paying attention to history and didn't listen to those that have lived through it. Sucks to be them!
 
We are in agreement that perfection is not obtainable. But I don’t think that perfection should even be the goal. The system we have works great. Better than any other political system devised by man. Tinkering with it, like giving the president lawmaking powers, leads us to misery. When we begin to trust a man, any man, to save us from ourselves, we make a fools bargain. No matter how worthy that man is, sooner or later we’re gonna have a fool in office. The precedent will have been set. And there is no undoing it, short of impeachment. It’s time that we start electing representatives to make laws, a President to execute the law, and a judiciary to read the letter of the law when there’s a dispute.

Perfection never was the goal, and the framers new it.. They designed the 3-branch system specifically because they were fully aware that humans are flawed beings who would attempt to extort, corrupt, and manipulate the rules to fit their specific agendas. That's precisely why they created terms of office and impeachment if necessary. A critical component that they unfortunately left out was term limits which would solve a great deal of the corruption and cronyism we have endured with this experiment in self-government since its inception.

In regard to setting precedent of having a fool in office, that precedent has been set and repeated many times over the course of our history. None greater though than the fool that currently occupies the WH.. But, that's part of the hand we are dealt in a system where we let the people elect their representatives.. You rightfully make the assertion that we have to start electing the right representatives to faithfully execute their office.. I agree, but that is extremely difficult to achieve consistently when we have such an ill-informed, easily influenced electorate.. Never in my 50+ years on this earth have I seen such large masses of people willing to vote against own well-being and prosperity as I have in these last 2 elections...
 
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Pompey or Desantis for me .
There is a long time before the primary and the dems are going to either drag Trump around the courts in an effort to taint him with women and moderates , or they are going to make his base think he is a martyr and he might win the nomination.
I am done with losing and voting for Trump.
Watch and read Ivanka his daughter. There is a reason why she is done supporting her father and being in politics. Her dad can’t control himself.
 
I just awoke from my slumber, get on here and this is what pops up. Thanks Hogpatrol! I might go back to bed after seeing this. LOL
I hear you. Some of the stuff that's going on today makes me want to volunteer for the no-return mission to Mars.
 
I just finished my evening walk to the park with my wife, grown daughter and the 2 bull terriers. Two, because we’re masochists. We saw a group riding a 7-person bike and immediately I drew a political analogy. Yes, my dear wife has put up with this for 39 years. Saint.

Anyway, to the analogy. I said that the problem with such a device is socialism. The wife shot me the same pained expression I received at lunch when I told her that I had purchased a 416 Rigby off AH this morning. #thegunthatnearlyruinedEaster.

Anywayyyy….the problem with a bike like this is…...Inevitably one of the peddlers figures out that they don’t have to peddle. Just let their feet go round and round. Soon, there’s only one person peddling to give the six other asses a ride. When that guy stops peddling, forward progress ceases.

Follow me for more incisive political thought.

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I just finished my evening walk to the park with my wife, grown daughter and the 2 bull terriers. Two, because we’re masochists. We saw a group riding a 7-person bike and immediately I drew a political analogy. Yes, my dear wife has put up with this for 39 years. Saint.

Anyway, to the analogy. I said that the problem with such a device is socialism. The wife shot me the same pained expression I received at lunch when I told her that I had purchased a 416 Rigby off AH this morning. #thegunthatnearlyruinedEaster.

Anywayyyy….the problem with a bike like this is…...Inevitably one of the peddlers figures out that they don’t have to peddle. Just let their feet go round and round. Soon, there’s only one person peddling to give the six other asses a ride. When that guy stops peddling, forward progress ceases.

Follow me for more incisive political thought.

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A 416 Rigby!, we each had 416 Rugers that killed buffalo, now I must also buy a Rigby. I shall show his to my I am sure she will understand. Congrats, do you have a picture.
 
Yup. Always wanted one. I bought this one from @neckdeep.

 
When Titans still walked the earth.

 
When Titans still walked the earth.


Those were leaders who inspired nations. There was never any doubt of our purpose or our ability to overcome any obstacle in our path. I fear we will never see their equal, although I must admit that I am quite impressed with that fellow in Ukraine!
 
A 416 Rigby!, we each had 416 Rugers that killed buffalo, now I must also buy a Rigby. I shall show his to my I am sure she will understand. Congrats, do you have a picture.
That is my wife.
 
Press release: interviewing Sen Blumenthal after he awakened after surgery on his leg he related the circumstances of the injury: he was enjoying the celebration of his team winning some athletic event when suddenly he saw a great hoard of MAGA republicans swooping down to overwhelm the innocent DemonRats and their mostly peaceful celebration. His mind flashed back 5 decades and half a world away- where he had just exited the command bunker and saw a great hoard of NVA swooping from the blind side of the compound. He saw that he was the only thing between the murderous NVA and the US servicemen sleeping in their tents- unaware of their impending fate. Caring nothing for his own safety he started running and sounding the alarm. As he ran he tripped over an engineer stake, breaking his lag, but he continued on. as a result of his quick directions the alerted soldiers were able to rapidly setup defensive measures and were able to turn what was certainly going to be a defeat into an overwhelming defeat- possibly the turning point of the entire war. For his action he received a Purple Heart for his wounds received as a result of enemy action- but more importantly his bravery was rewarded with a Congressional Medal of Honor.


As the sedative wore off- he noted that during the UConn celebration he tripped on the curb, stumbled and broke his leg.
 

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