Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents

       The conservative movement used to have really pure ideas about the limited powers of the Presidency.  Then it embraced someone who idolized dictators and strongmen, and things went out the window.

There are several points of comparison between the pissed off British electorate of 1770 that inspired Edmund Burke's Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents and the segment of the American public who find Citizen Kane attractive.   The British rogue John Wilkes was the Donald Trump of his day.  His damning sin was bucking the Earl of Bute, but what he was denied Parliament for was his insult to George III in North Briton #45.  The first time Wilkes was denied his seat, the Middlesex electors were at least allowed to elect a replacement.  The second time, the ministry named a Colonel Luttrell to fill Wilkes' spot.

        The grievances of the British in 1770 were the weak legislature caused by an intrusive executive power (namely, Lord Bute and the court faction), the fact that competent leaders were unwilling to enter office because of the undermining of ministries (as happened with Pitt the elder and Lord Rockingham), and a public feeling that the executive was overwhelming the legislature.

       The grievances of the Trump faction today are similar.  They include a pushover Congress that does everything the President asks, Congressional leaders who are scapegoats for executive programs, and a public uninterested in empowering Congress.

       The problem with the backers of Citizen Kane is that they want to deal with an emasculated Congress, not by restoring to proper functions of Congress (e.g. by returning to actual budgets, rather than continuing resolutions;  an end to finances being designed in the White House), but by replacing one autocratic President with another autocratic President. . . .Virtually no position Trump takes is based on facts, reflection or experience.  Limited government and constitutionalism are meaningless to him.  All Trump promises to be is a different type of autocrat. . . .So, unlike the British in 1770, there exists today in America discontent, but a strange, incoherent discontent that aims to remedy a disorder by the same disorder.

       Estase wrote that on his old blog Q.E.D. before the election, and unfortunately, events have proceeded accordingly.  Orange Blatheskite has relied on Presidential Decrees and National Emergencies to achieve what he cannot by legitimate means.   

 

 

 

Pot, Meet Kettle!

       The People's Republic of Illinois at work.  The above was mailed out in a piece of mail from the Secretary of State's office.  Political propaganda mailed out at taxpayer expense.  Estase isn't positive, but he believes that Ameren is actually a nonprofit--previously known as CIPS.
       At any rate, it's just rich for the State of Killinois to complain about utility rates, seeing as how the General Assembly never tires of imposing new taxes to fritter away on whatever nonsense they think up.

Is American Politics Mere Entertainment?

          NBA referee Tim Donaghy apparently called excessive fouls to throw basketball games in favor of teams that he and his pals were betting on.  Donaghy defends himself by claiming that the NBA isn't real basketball, like college teams play.
           The idea that pro basketball is as real as pro wrestling might not sit so well with many, but has it ever occurred to many Americans that their political system is a fixed game?
           The Court of King's Bench (AKA the Praetors) are supposed to be the referees of the American government.  Ever since the 30s, their role has become that of a super-legislature, achieving through their dictate what Congress cannot do.  On everything from the unceasing ability of the Federal government to tax and regulate (Wickard v. Filburn) to striking down legitimate laws the States made concerning abortion, King's Bench does far more than tell the law.   The Federal Judiciary in general is the proudest bastion of the American left.
       In light of Tim Donaghy calling fouls to throw games, his claims that his actions don't matter because the NBA is entertainment, and not a real game, and the unnerving similarity between King's Bench and the way Donaghy officiated basketball games, one comes to a sobering conclusion.  Is American politics a real competition, or just entertainment?

The New Frontiers of Choice