An Elective Despotism: the Tyranny We’ve Brought on Ourselves

Coach is Right ^ | 8/30/15 | Rod & Sherri Dodsworth

[Oldpuppymax]

It is no secret that over recent decades, constitutionally defined powers reserved to Congress or the states have swirled into the Executive branch. As a result, no matter the name or the party, the next President will possess and put to use the autocratic power secured by Barack Obama. His will be a broad authority associated far more with the likes of brute strongmen like Hugo Chavez than with George Washington.

But don’t put the entire blame on Obama, for he didn’t pull the keystone to the Framers’ division of powers and claim them all for his own. Blame early 20th Century Progressives for democratizing the Senate and concentrating power in Washington DC. Just as the Roman Republic didn’t descend into a tyrannical empire overnight, the slide of the American Republic into its current misery has been long in the making. Obama and his party simply took advantage of a hundred year trend.

Congress began to relinquish its Article I powers upon ratification of the 17th Amendment in 1913, a process which accelerated under the New Deal and Great Society as the Executive branch pursued the pinnacle of raw and arbitrary power.

And now our government relies increasingly on Executive and Judicial precedent rather than legislative statute or the Constitution for the supreme law of the land. Every Executive and Judicial excess since the New Deal has been built on prior outrages. Ask the coiffed and pedicured lawyers who convinced SCOTUS to rewrite Obamacare and they will claim that it was entirely constitutional all along. After all, the high court Justices have revised legislation to their own satisfaction since FDR. The limits to governmental authority are now determined only by those in power, based on what they believe they can get away with.

We have an elective despotism in which...

[headstamp 2]

Norton just blocked attack from this website. Use caution.

[Hostage]

The money quote:

Congress began to relinquish its Article I powers upon ratification of the 17th Amendment in 1913, a process which accelerated under the New Deal and Great Society as the Executive branch pursued the pinnacle of raw and arbitrary power.

Article V people, Article V.
http://www.conventionofstates.com/

[dforest]

I had no problem, that is one reason I ditched Norton.

[Democrat_media]

Politicians have grown government every month for the last 100 years( we are now far on the road toward socialism).

Politicians are all owned by rich donors and foreign interests. This is why with very few exceptions none of them have ever done anything that is pro-American and even now only Trump is the pro-American.

Trump is not owned by rich donors nor foreign interests. Only Trump can save America.

Since 1965 politicians have let in more 3rd world immigrants and have done nothing to stop illegals. Immigrants (Asians, Mexicans etc. ) all vote for democrats and so advance socialism even further.We are in big trouble

[DannyTN]

I'd love to see President Trump use those powers in a way that demonstrates to all their powers. For example Trump could:

• Use the patriot act to arrest a member of congress from each house and from each party and hold them without charging them.
• Tap their phones and release slightly embarrassing private conversations to the public.
• Send homeland security to occupy the home towns of the congressional leaders.
• Declare a crisis and disarm all the senators. He could post a couple of guards without the senator's knowledge to protect them.
• Arrest them on hate charges for saying something controversial.
• etc.

  But it would have to be done in a way, that's it's obvious that he is demonstrating how abusive those powers can be, and not that he is actually trying to be king.

[be-baw]

Norton just blocked attack from this website. Use caution.

Thanks for the heads-up. It bears repeating.

[headstamp 2]

Yes, because its better to get a web virus.