3) “The freedom of the press has, in consequence thereof, been esteemed one of its safeguards.”
Of all the woe's that DeWitt anticipated he failed to anticipate that one perspective would capture and dominate political thought for 60 years. Even as late at the Civil War..publishers/papers were clearly slanted but they made no pretense of their bias.
24)It is declared to be constructed for national purposes only and not calculated to interfere with domestic concerns.
Nothing but raucous laughter here.
31)”Your consent is requested because it is essential to the introduction of it; after having received confirmation, your complaints may increase the whistling of the wind, and they will be equally regarded. “
Consent of the governed seems to be anachronism.
32-35) “ It cannot be doubted at this day by any men of common sense that there is a charm in politics. That persons who enter reluctantly into office become [habituated], grow fond of it and are loath to resign it.
They feel themselves flattered and elevated, and are apt to forget their constituents until the time returns that they again feel the want of them. They uniformly exercise all the powers granted to them, and ninety-nine in a hundred are for grasping at more.”
Need I mention the Kennedy seat.
One of the failings of the constitution was it's lack of term limits...Obvious from these writings the founders anticipated the rise of a permanent political class but they failed to act on these concerns.
45)”This length of time will be amply sufficient of itself to remove any checks that he may have upon his [independence] from the fear of a future election. “
Reference remarks 32-35
98)”[Entrust] it to men, subject to the same unbounded passions and infirmities as yourselves, possessed with an insatiable thirst for power, and many of them carrying in them vices, [though tinseled] and concealed, yet in themselves not less dangerous than those more naked and exposed. “
One of the other failings of the constitution was allowing a group of men...to exempt themselves from the laws that they saddle the rest of us with.
Even as late at the Civil War..publishers/papers were clearly slanted but they made no pretense of their bias.
Actually it was as late as World War II. The Mainstream Media, as we know it today, espouses a bland, elitist, corporatist liberaralism far removed from the muscular liberalism of the New Deal generation. Today, eight companies control most TV stations, most radio stations, most general circulation magazines, most publshing concerns, all networks and all movie studios. If you research the organizational affiliations of the members of the boards of directors of these eight companies, your hair will stand on end.
Consent of the governed seems to be anachronism.
A disturbing thought. Latest polling indicates that most people believe the government no longer enjoys the consent of the governed, which is the American version of the Chinese "mandate of heaven." This would indicate that if elections don't solve the problem, "politics by other means" is the next logical step.
One of the failings of the constitution was it's lack of term limits...Obvious from these writings the founders anticipated the rise of a permanent political class but they failed to act on these concerns.
This was a major bone of contention at the Convention. There was a need to balance the threat of a permanent political class against the need for institutional memory, particularly the kind of memory that understands how the levers of power work.
During the first half of the 19th Century, presidents came and went, and most had little impact. The country was run by three men in Congress -- Webster, Clay and Calhoun -- and when they died within a few years of each other, events spun out of control, and the country broke apart.
Institutuional memory is important, but there needs to be a balance.
One of the other failings of the constitution was allowing a group of men...to exempt themselves from the laws that they saddle the rest of us with.
This is a good one. At the time of the Founding, the Framers could not conceive of the men in politics exempting themselves from the laws they passed. This was a matter of honor, and the code of the time simply could not imagine congressmen and senators behaving like the inherited nobility of England.