"Presidentialism" Not Serving American Politics Well
Here we are heralding the entrance of a new year with myriad problems confronting us; some problems appearing as daily spoken realities – those principally dealing with the economy, war and terrorism; others, subliminally present, silenced by national choice – such as bigotry, an ever-expanding income-wealth inequality and the prospect of a world without US economic and military hegemony. The subliminal topics appearing as taboo, where neither government nor most of us dare go or openly discuss. We are ushering 2016 as yet another presidential election year where once again our once reliable presidential system is demonstrating its incapacity to reach political consensus in a diverse nation where the preponderance of voters is no longer centrist “across the board” as in generations past.
Results from Spain’s December 20 general election brought both reality and questions which had been accosting me from my early days of inquiry about politics to my current cynicism which defines the idea of democracy, and self-governance, as just a placebo prescribed by those elites who alternatively rule over us in this United States.
I go back to my teen years when I first questioned which system of government, within the context of democracy, would probably be best: Parliamentarism or Presidentialism. And I recall choosing one over the other depending on my political feelings at that time. Now, after years of swinging back and forth, I am about to reach the conclusion, this time permanently, without the residue of reservations that I had in the past, that at least in this 21st Century America, Presidentialism is not serving us well; and that, braiding it with our insufferable two-party, money-lubricated, political machine has placed us among the worst governed major nations on earth – something which our false pride and concomitant ignorance refuse to acknowledge time and again. Pride and ignorance which have nurtured cancerous instincts in conflict with world peace and brotherhood through militarism, bigotry, jingoism, and a shameful enjoyment of our “empire-feel”; perhaps a great outcome for the ruling elites of the nation but a sorry aftermath for a commoner citizenry which has been profoundly deceived.
A most interesting new approach to American politics has resulted for me from Spain’s recent elections, something which can only happen, or be invited to happen, under Parliamentarism. Instead of the customary two major political forces that usually vie for absolute power, the People’s Party or Partido Popular (PP) – most often tagged as center-right in the right-left political spectrum, and the Socialist Workers’ Party or Partido Socialista Obrero Español (PSOE) – center-left deceivingly misnamed by appropriating the terms workers and socialist, there were two other major political parties of new vintage sculpted from recent popular movements sprouting from both the left and a “modified center”: We Can (Podemos) and Citizens-Party (Ciudadanos).
In the past, much in the fashion of Republicans and Democrats in the US, PSOE and PP alternated holding the reins of power – notwithstanding the required coalitions in two nationalistic (separatist) regions: the autonomous communities of Catalonia and the Basque Country. In a political patronage-prone culture such as Spain, this system of spoils under the two-party yoke has always kept the level of economic corruption high; but as austerity measures were imposed to cope with the most recent world recession, citizen-democracy became invigorated, thus the advent of two new political formations, Podemos and Ciudadanos, for the most part carved from the membership in the two “now-is-my-turn” ruling parties.
Now, after the vote of the 73 percent turnout has been counted, there are not just two but four political forces vying for power, where coalition-consensus will win the day for a new government to emerge: PP with 29 percent of the popular vote and 123 (35%) seats in the Cortes; PSOE, tallying 22 percent and 90 (26%) seats; Podemos gathering 21 and 69 (20%) seats; Ciudadanos with 14 percent and 40(11%) seats; and multiple other parties together garnering the other 14 percent of the popular vote and the remaining 28 seats in the 350-member Cortes. Under a parliamentary system where no winner takes it all, Spain will have to reach political compromise and stability in a democratic consensus government. Something expected to happen, accommodating the sound of all major voices.
These four political forces in Spain bring to mind that our presidential system of winner-take-all will be trying to squeeze in perhaps more than half dozen socio-political forces in the United States, all without coalition or compromise, under the umbrellas held by our “faithful and reliable” Tweedledee and Tweedledum political parties.
Evangelicals, Tea-partiers, Progressives, Libertarians, Ghettofied Blacks, Unionized Labor, and other groups will be tapped and lured by the career politicians in the two parties to receive their financial support and vote, in most instances without political voice… only the prospect that their vote will bring about a government that will provide “the lesser of two evils,” a proposition that the American electorate has, erroneously, accepted as a political act of faith.
Our system of Presidentialism may have served us well in the past but its rigidity in the political process denies the multiple voices that need to be heard in a democracy, nor offers the required tools for political compromise. Sadly… here we are, stepping into 2016 with the possible political prospect of having to elect as chief executive of this nation either a lady with questionable trust-credentials or a boisterous charlatan.
May the Almighty have mercy on us in 2016!
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I wonder if the civil war started it all. Despite Americans holding up Lincoln as a paragon of virtue, he was one of (maybe the) worst presidents. To uphold the constitution and its principles, he had to have let the south separate. Did he just want (need?) to retain power?
The South supplied the bulk of federal tariff revenue and thus the bulk of federal government's income. Let the South go, and Lincoln had no other significant resources other than what he could borrow or print. He also tried to implement the first income tax, later ruled unconstitutional. Thomas DiLorenzo among others does good work smashing the Lincoln mythology if you're interested.
George Bush: Well, first of all, let me say that Bob Dole and I are friends. And I never authorized a flyer that said that Bob Dole is mean-spirited, but I'm not going to disavow it, because I want to stay above the fray, on the high road. So, apologize? No. Above the fray? Yes.
Bob Dole: Can I say something here, Pat?
Pat Schroeder: Go ahead, Senator Dole.
Bob Dole: I don't believe my good friend George Bush - he's lying, he knows it, you know it, I know it, the people at home know it, the American people know it, we all know it. Now, it's one thing to attack an opponent's record in the heat of a campaign.. but when you come after an opponent's wife, well, to me, that's another thing! Now, my wife, Elizabeth Dole, ran the buses of this country for three years, so it's not fair! Maybe if you have a wife of privilege, like George Bush, you don't know that! You see, Bob Dole grw up in Kansas in a small farm town, he didn't have the prep school education, or the sterling silverware, or the bumper pool table in the basement.. didn't have the shower & massage with five-way adjustable heads.. or the sit-down lawnmower. Bob Dole didn't have these things!
George Bush: Now, wait a minute, can I say something here?
Bob Dole: George, I'm not finished yet!
George Bush: Now, I'm not gonna back down..
Bob Dole: I know it, you know it, and the people here tonight know it.. the American people know it, we all know it.. Bob Dole, Republican candidate is gonna be the next President of the United States! So why don't you just go back home to your summer home in Maine, your automatic garage door opener, your electric steak knife, and run around Kennenbunkport, Maine in your powerboat, while I take care of real issues in the White House!
http://snltranscripts.jt.org/87/87kdebate.phtml
Are we talking about the same Elizabeth Dole that sat on Enron's board and screwed tens of thousands out of their pensions? Some cunt, she is.
Dole, then McCain, then Romney, all incompetent chosen stooges to put up against Clinton and Homobama for their guaranteed coronations.
Well, just fuck me running.
+1000 Trump
0 Cankles
+1,000,000 Trump: " I was watching her....I mean, she has the biggest set of teleprompters I've ever seen!"
LoL.. yup, we need a bit of a comedian
Shill for hitlery harder Tyler
"Republicans"
No matter what the election, the only moral vote is NOTA.
I do not consent to mob rule.
That's my secondary choice, after Scrooge McDuck.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoF_a0-7xVQ
The "President" position was created in the hopes of having a figurehead. He PRESIDES....sits there; does nothing. That way, this fuckin thing called a CONGRESS legislates....represents the people if you will.
We are way off the reservation now.
Congress was supposed to declare war, make treaties, legislate....we have a King now which is antithetical to what was intended. King legislated today. He's got a pen, a phone and soon an academy award for the water works.
Time to implement a plural executive to stop rogue Presidents: one Democrat, one Republican and one Independent.
We are dealing with capitalism, whose primary (one might argue only) goal is to maintain wealth distribution and class structure. When capitalist societies implode, one response is to employ fascism to maintain wealth distribution. To quote Emma Goldman- “If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal”.
The system didn't fail the people. The people failed the system.
"A republic, if you can keep it." ~B. Franklin
I will agree with you that the People failed ..
But the system is working just fine ..
Let me ask you if you are of the persuasion of "God given rights." Crazy that this comes from a Brit ..
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2016/01/05/why-did-the-framers-of-the-const...
To this OP et al, I really challenged his sensibilities ..
https://www.facebook.com/klaatu.aquinas/posts/991048094267534:0
There is nothing wrong with the system if you want to keep it ..
The OP in this ZH article really titillates when he dare mentions democracy ..
The problem here is with "the consent of the governed."
I suppose "centrist" is the desired place to be. Moderate, middle of the road, universally acceptable. The problem is that this centrism is the midpoint between two parties tht act virtually the same. Our government is drifting ever closer towards a hard tyranny through the continual compromises made between those fully embracing soft tyranny today. The time for centrist compromise is over. As Obama proved again today, there is only one perspective that rules and that is the tyrant. Progressivism has infected the world politic, the Wilsonian belief that the Constitution is nothing and the president is only constrained by his own humility, something that NONE now possesses.
I totally agree with you. My mind goes to, "I don't buy it" whenever I hear a politican speak. I know that when something big happens, such as our financial melt-down, we then are told there will be "hearings."
Hearings is a code word for, "bring me the money!" These terrible goons tell US they are getting tough on wall street.
But, we all know now it is an excuse to: a) talk tough and b) free drinks or more free drinks that day c) that it is for SHOW AND TELL d) it brings in the bacon! Bacon=LOBBY FUNDING.
This is a small example of what we call politics but it is insidious, odorous, ridiculous and hilarious when I hear a regular citizen seemingly buying off on the differnces between these two parties..
This system is broken, and it is irritating and I am NOT listening any longer.
Our next President may be worse than any, with two obvious mental illnesses: http://trumpcampaignanalysis.blogspot.com/2016/01/hillarys-mental-illnes...
USA:: Federation -> Republic -> Democracy -> Fascist -> Tyrant.
Hopefully, now Americans know what the World has had to put up with. Presidentialism is not working for Americans and American Exceptionalism is not working for the World.
America has to many ism's
Facism, Exceptionalism, Presidentialism, Racism and even Zionism.
The South shall rise again.
Hopefully in the North.
What if we just had less reason to fight over this notion of power in the first place? If the US Federal Government was 1% the size it is now, all our lives would be better and there would be no need to worry about rich assholes using the FBI and the rest of that bullshit to grind our faces into the dirt. There would be no military adventurism, just a strong nuclear defense.
The fact that so many people are comfortable with the absolute domination of the oligarchs and their "federal government" is the first item that needs to be addressed. As the overreach becomes obvious to even the dullest person, this issue will start to resolve itself. It is a matter of reminding people that they are Americans and do not lick boots. It is shameful to worship this false notion of power, and adults do not find pleasure in bowing to "authority".
It is not a return to some ideal of government from the past that is needed. It is not even an iteration of "government" where we move from 2 parties fighting over who controls the rest of us to a system of many parties fighting for domination. The next step in our evolution is to stop this notion of domination and mass control altogether. There should be no such State.
If politicians weren't involved with every aspect of our lives there'd be no reason for corporate lobbyists to bribe them with billions. I remember as a kid when Congress made child proof lighters mandatory I said I know where this is going and we've become more and more disgustingly Socialist ever since. This writer sounds like just another "Tell You How To Live" Asshole!
Presidents are just elected vs hereditary monarchs.
All the other offices of government are elected vs hereditary royal court members.
The offices of government carry FAR TOO MUCH power over the people.
Elections change only the flavor of the overlords, not the corrupt immoral system.
The fiat paper issued by the Fed. And the unlimited ability of the Federal Government to issue debt that by law the Fed. will monitize destroys the republic along with the 17th amendment. The governors will have to stand up against the tyrant but many get $ from it.
Is Bernie Sanders part of tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum? Or is he tweedle-dumber?
See "Bloomberg: Bernie Bobbles, Begs Bullet, Broaching Big Bank Breakup, Banker Baddies Behind Bars" here:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-01-05/wall-street-isn-t-feel...
I think we need a candidate who puts jews and israel first!
The ko$her master race needs to control all aspects of the government.
Hell, they need to spy on us and control us with never ending lies!
2016. The year we elected another jew puppet.
The question we all need to ask is....is it good for the jews?
Europe is hardly fairing better under it's parliamentary structure than we are here.
The issue is not governmental structure, but rather, and I know I am preaching to the choir, the existence of a privately chartered central bank with its power to create fiat currency.
The litany of corruption is historically documented, and has not changed since the first psychopath crawled out from under a rock with its charter for unlimited wealth grasped firmly in its teeth.
The resolution is also historically documented... either collapse and rebirth, or rebellion. The so called elite ruling class will do everything it can to hold power which historically has meant taking us to war. The US government and its cronies throughout the world appear actively engaged in bringing this about. The list of provocations is a long one... ie the Ukraine, the Sprately Islands, surrounding of China and Russia with missile batteries, Arab Spring, downing of a Russian fighter, and the execution of a popular shiite cleric, just to name a few.
I was reading several articles recently relating to transhumanism... those folks who believe they will enhance themselves with technology, becoming, in the process, some kind of hybrid man/machine, and achieving, therefore, god-like intellect giving them the power to solve the world's problems. But the problem is not one of intellect, or even the lack there of, but the nature to which we are bound, and which will invariably lead us down the same path. Fellow Christians would call this a sin nature, but the rest of you may refer to it as human nature. In any regard we are locked into this cycle of death which worked, perhaps not well, but it worked in a time of continuous expansion and limited means, but appears ominously and catastrophically fatal in an age of globalism concomitant with the means to bring about complete and permanent destruction.
I like your commentary. I would add that the lack of enforcement mechanisms in the Constitution to ensure government oath takers is also a real flaw in the Constitution. Other things like the unconstitutional 17fh amendment are also a major flaw that has crippled the Republic.
It seemingly takes more and more outrageous pressure to involve people in the corruption of this world, rather than just living with it.
In a very real sense we are (as the Freemasons say) just travelers in this world, passing through it. We can learn and experience here, but it is not our ultimate destination. More evil? Cool, another experience. Hitlery, gun confiscation, imprisonment, poverty, disease, torture, death? Sweet, another experience. Let evil have its day on earth, this is Satan's world after all.
It is seemingly all about how we react, not what they do. Their aim is to corrupt us, distract us and make us fight each other.
And, they are an essential part of the test and growing process... and we must learn how to let it pass and experience it, learning, but not letting it corrupt us. If you have doubts, I suggest you read the "Gospel according to Thomas". Never heard of it? There is probably a reason for that.
F*ck governments, rule yourself.
A pathetic read. Wah... Sniff Sniff.
You are missing vital information about the American political system: it is more complicated than you imagine. Yes, we have two political parties, but we have four political groups which go in and out of power. This gives America great flexibility under changing conditions. We can often turn our politics on a dime.
I suggest that you read Walter Russel Mead's "The Jacksonian Tradition." http://denbeste.nu/external/Mead01.html
or God and Gold: Britain, America, and the Making of the Modern World
Mead says that there are diverse interests in American politics which he names after the Presidents which exemplifies them best: Jeffersonianism, Hamiltonianism, Wilsonianism and Jacksonianism.
Collectivism or individualism are merely tactics used by these various groups. It can be said that both the Democrat and Republican party leaderships, now, are the captives of the Progressives who believe in a powerful central government to achieve their particular ends. Their Welfare/Warfare state has not been governing well.
Both the TEA Party and Donald Trump are in opposition to the Left/Right Progressives who want to keep their cushy jobs. The TEA Party is a Jacksonian reaction to huge, expensive, intrusive government.
Trump is a populist who is stating positions held by the population which are out of favor among Left/Right Progressives. It is not clear what Trump believes, exactly.
His great charm is that he shows no fear of the Media. He will attack back at them. He will give the Media representatives the vapors when their manipulation fails to work on him. He never apologizes.
A good case is Megyn Kelly. In the first debate, She intentionally tried to sabotage Trump's campaign. Trump turned the tables on her.
He insulted her for getting so angry at him when he wouldn't agree that he was in a "war on women." Trump stated that he had problems with some women, Rosie O'Donnell, as an example, but not all of them.