History Lessons

For John, BLUF:  Not everyone who cites history knows that history.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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On October 2, Dylan Matthews published a piece in The Washington Post titled "The Shutdown is the Constitution’s Fault.".  I have been meaning to read it, but as my absence on Wednesday shows, I have been busy.  One of my sons, on furlough from Uncle Sam, even offered to draft up a couple of posts for me.

At any rate, when retired CRS Analyst Robert Goldich♠ takes you to the history woodshed, you know you need to brush up a little.  Bob does just that on the blog War on the Rocks, with "Get Your History Right on America's Political System".  Incidentally, I think our system is working just as it was designed.

He argues that shutdown is indicative of a degree of political polarization that could lead to the rise of authoritarian government in the United States, and that a central reason for this is the separation-of-powers system of government we have, rather than a parliamentary system.   In a parliamentary system, there is a unity of executive and legislative branches and often only one legislative body rather than two, or only one truly decisive one.   There are a host of theoretical arguments in favor of both systems.   The problem with Matthews is that the historical examples he cites in support of his contention are nothing less than preposterous.

After looking at some historical errors, Mr Goldich ends:

If Matthews wants to be an Aristotle and write about the vices and virtues of different systems of government, fine.   But if he’s going to cite historical examples in support of a thesis, he should know his history better, and have a better understanding of the forces which affect a country’s political development.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  Robert L. Goldich retired from a 33-year career in the Congressional Research Service in 2005.  He was the senior CRS military manpower analyst when he left.  Bob is currently writing a book on conscription in history, from the first human civilizations to the present.

Alex Beam Again

I thought that Alex Beam's column in today's The Boston Globe, "Contrary to popular belief..." was interesting. In the column he talks to the question of if President George W Bush is the worst US President ever. This is germane to the current campaign in that Senator Obama is trying to paint Senator McCain as just another George Bush term. I thought Mr Beam had a fairly balanced item, as usual.

I was surprised that Mr Beam did not mention President Andrew Johnson, who I think may have been the worst of our collection of Presidents. He was the first President to be impeached. He was the person whose reconstruction efforts may have allowed racial discrimination laws to fester in the United States for over 100 years. By comparison with President Johnson's efforts and the lingering problems, President Bush's reconstruction efforts in Iraq seem pretty effective. If the prompt action of President Bush and his team to deal with the now global economic crisis take hold, in the long run it will work to improve his standing.

Regards -- Cliff

When The Boston Globe dropped the "Sidekick" on Saturdays, I migrated to reading the Living Arts Section, to find the comics. I would finish the comics and my wife would still be reading the A Section, so I took to reading Alex Beam. Frankly, my prejudice was that he sat at the intersection of MSM and Lifestyle, a sure fire formula for having views I didn't agree with. I was wrong. That is the way with prejudice. It gets in the way of learning and enjoying.

Today's Column is about those who think that someone in the Administration will suspend the election before November. While I don't believe this will happen, I do entertain a fantasy about the election being delayed.

In my fantasy NASA announces that their operation out of Hawaii has found an inbound asteroid and that it is expected to impact southern China by the end of the month. The initial death toll is estimated at half a billion, with another billion or so to die in the ensuing environmental adjustments.

The UN shrugs its shoulders, but China, having put men in space and done space walks, mounts a quick effort to get to the asteroid, but it blows up on the launch pad. Russia offers no help, in that anything that hurts China enhances Russia's position. Finally, President Bush orders the launch of ICBMs, whose warheads nudge the asteroid out of the way, barely. As a result, President Bush's approval goes to 80% world wide. (Ten percent wouldn't say anything nice about Bush even if he donated a kidney to keep them alive. The other ten percent are those who never get the word.) Senate Majority Leader Reid and Speaker Pelosi realize that the election will be a disaster and that the half life of a typical political memory is 90 days, to they recall the Congress, vote President Bush a Gold Medal and also vote to delay the election until June of 2009. Then they call Dr Howard Dean and tell him to hold a new nominating convention. Their next step is to go to the Chapel on Capital Hill and pray the Republicans follow suit.