@pratik There was, at the time, a deep fear of autocracy. The intent of the veto points was to prevent power too heavily centralized in one branch. And yet, we ended up with the inability to get anything done AND power to heavily centralized in one branch. 😂😭
@paulcraig901 That seems verrry pessimistic to me! Name me a country in the world that got more done in the last 250 years than America did. I can't think of one. Maybe you'll enlighten me. 🇺🇸
@Ron To clarify, the inability to execute is more of a recent phenomenon… a direct result of polarization and partisanship. As for pessimism… that’s more than justified when reflecting upon the last 40+ years of American history. So much squandered in the name of imperialism.
@paulcraig901 Maybe something changed for the worse in the last 40 years then. Why pin it on the Constitution which has been working great for hundreds of years! Maybe it's a generational thing. I'm quite old, but I still believe in the people of America. Is there a country you admire more?
@paulcraig901 Agree. What was a feature then seems (may not be) like a bug now. Many Americans are unaware of that the system is designed for incremental change. Yet large scale policies have occurred but had to be gradually scaled up.
@Ron I refuse to conflate "government" and "people." By and large, I love the people of the United States. But I loathe the actions of a government hellbent on giving the military industrial complex enough to taxpayer funding to feed, house and clothe the majority of its population. ($801 billion).
@Ron I don't think this is a generational disconnect at all. I am unfortunately operating on data to which you may not have been exposed. With so much data flying around, that's a common occurrence. Furthermore, I am not anti-military. Our armed forces personnel and especially our veterans deserve infinitely better than that which they receive.
@Ron I truly believe if we were to sit down and compre notes that we would reach the same conclusions. Because I believe neither one of us would for a minute fall for the rampant misdirections of the left, the right and the mainstream media. Somewhere in heaven, Gerry Rafferty weeps.
@pratik Perhaps you can assist me. What was the last successful large scale policy that scaled up and what was the date of its inception? (There's not enough coffee in the world for me today.)
@paulcraig901 Things like Social Security were quite restrictive earlier (not for black people) and then ACA instead of Medicare-for-all or even the public option. Sets the groundwork for the latter options.
@paulcraig901 When I was in grade school, three blocks east of where we now live, I wore an I Like Ike button on my shirt. This was not the least bit controversial at the time and Ike easily became the President in 1952, also sweeping both houses of Congress for the GOP. Those were good times. He was the guy who first warned America about the possible dangers of the military industrial complex. No one had heard this phrase before, but Ike used it in his ten minute Farewell Address as President in Jan 1961.
In Nov 1963 the next President (JFK) was assassinated in Dallas and there have been so many troubled times in America since then! The peace we enjoyed in the 50's has been long gone.
@odd @paulcraig901 @Ron Perhaps even more germaine is Washington's warnings about poliitical parties in his farewell address. While Ike rightly warned of the military industrial complex, he was blind to and aided the rise of the Christian right's power in our government. I doubt that Madison would claim the Constitution was perfect, the need for and existence of the 13th, 14th, 15th, and 19th amendments are clear evidence. The United States has been at it's best when striving toward that "more perfect union." Right now the powerful in the United States is very invested in the status quo.
@Ron @odd Ike's farewell address was indeed prescient. Despite the troubled times since 1963, the US had an opportunity in 1989 to stabilize the entirety of Europe. Yet, the "Cold War victory was squandered." And post-9/11, the scope creep invasion of Iraq triggered by the WMD lie further eroded our standing. As for the 1950s being "good times," that would be highly dependent on the color of one's skin.
@ron @odd I want to come back to the question of "negativity" for a moment because I think it's vitally important. I'm not "negative" or "positive" per se. Rather, I'm looking at the long political and foreign policy history of the US since 1945 with clear eyes. It's not pretty for long stretches. And when one counts the "undeclared conflicts," we've been in a state of war for the vast majority of that time. It's not uplifting at all.
@paulcraig901 @ron The Vietnam war also didn’t really start with Gulf of Tonkin incident, but in the mid-50s, just as the Korean War was heading towards a standoff. However it wasn’t especially felt in the US until the mid-60s. If you were living in Korea or Vietnam in the 50s, it probably didn’t feel so safe.
@paulcraig901 It’s not a very reassuring political climate at all. I wish you had more parties that were viable, so that there were real choices.
@odd @Ron This is spot on accurate. Vietnam War begain in 1955 and escalated in 1961... as far as we know today. A close reading of the available declassified intelligence shows the Gulf of Tonkin incident was, at best, a siloed SIGINT error. This is explained by Marc Ambinder in Deep State: Inside the Government Secrecy Industry.