Defending the then-new Constitution, Publius made very strong arguments in favor of mixed regimes, with power distributed among legislative, executive, and judicial branches so as to take advantage of the strengths of each, and to prevent any from accumulating too much power. The legislative branch can take time to be deliberative, and to enact legislation that appeals to a broad swath of the country. The executive can conduct deliberations in private, and provide a single, decisive leader for foreigners to deal with (rather than a squabbling and vacillating committee).
Putting together a few recent posts, it dawns on me that between Obama and the Democrats in Congress, our government has abandoned those advantages laid out in the Constitution. The House of Representatives rushes through legislation, without time for meaningless formalities like reading the bill or counting votes. Because, I guess, we’ve got to pass laws (that even if enacted won’t take effect for months) NOW NOW NOW!
Meanwhile, the president who campaigned on winning in Afghanistan, more than a year after his election, still doesn’t have a plan for what to do, and – much worse – is publicly dithering and casting into doubt our support for the Afghan regime. While Americans die and foreigners justly doubt our steadfastness, the president continues to publicly announce that he just isn’t sure what we’ll be doing.
So here we are, with a Congress that is acting with the petulant impatience of a boy-king who’s just attained his majority, and a president who is waging war with all the decisive unity and determination of a hundred-member committee. It’s like Opposite Day at the Constitutional Convention.
Posted by Apollo in CHANGE!, Politics, The Democratic Congress