Posted on 12/25/2015 7:53:32 AM PST by SeekAndFind
This incessant clamoring by voters and punditry for better "leaders" and more "leadership" is one of the most unsavory, dangerous, and un-American tendencies in political discourse.
When Donald Trump was asked last week by Joe Scarborough what he made of an endorsement from Vladimir Putin -- a thug who's probably murdered journalists and political opponents and more -- the GOP presidential front-runner responded, "He's running his country, and at least he's a leader, unlike what we have in this country." Then he offered an incredibly dumb moral equivalency about how the United States also does "plenty of killing."
There was plenty of well-earned criticism directed at Trump's comments. Most commenters were offended not because the Russians are being aggressively "led," mind you, but because Putin does things we don't approve of. Perhaps if the Russian strongman used his muscle to tackle global warming as the Chinese Communists are pretending to do, the New York Times' editorial page would praise him for his forethought and willingness to act. If Putin banned protests aimed at abortion clinics instead of Pussy Riot, how many progressives would cheer him?
In contemporary American parlance -- and maybe it's always been this way -- a "leader" typically describes someone who will aggressively push your preferred policies. How much do Americans really care about what this aggressiveness entails?
Trump's entire case, for instance, is propelled by the notion that a single (self-identified) competent, a strong-willed president, without any perceptible deference to the foundational ideals of the nation, will be able to smash any cultural or political obstacles standing in the way of making America Great Again.
But this is certainly not the first time we've seen voters adopt a cultish reverence for a strong-willed presidential candidate without any perceptible deference to the foundational ideals of the country whose personal charisma was supposed to shatter obstacles standing in the way of making America great again. Many of the same people anxious about the authoritarian overtones of Trump's appeal were unconcerned about the intense adulation that adoring crowds showered on Barack Obama in 2008, though the spectacle featured similarly troubling signs -- the iconography, the messianic messaging, and the implausible promises of government-produced comfort and safety. Just as President Trump fans will judge every person on how nice or mean he or she is to Trump, so, too, those rooting against Obama were immediately branded unpatriotic or racist.
Obama's inevitable failure to live up to the hype has had many repercussions -- and none of them healthy.
One: Liberal hypocrites, who only a few years ago were lamenting how W.'s abuses had destroyed the republic, now justify Obama's numerous executive overreaches because they correspond with liberal political aims. Obama's argument -- and, thus, the contention of his fans -- seems to pivot on the notion that the president has a moral imperative to act on his favored policies because the lawmaking branch of government refuses to do so. That is weird. This reasoning will almost certainly be the modus operandi for presidents unable to push through their own agendas -- which, considering where the country is headed, will be every president.
Two: Other liberals (and maybe many of the same ones) argue that Obama hasn't done enough with his power -- that the president is unwilling to lead -- even if there are procedural or constitutional barriers for him to achieve what they demand. Too many Americans seem to believe that presidents can make laws if they fight hard enough, and these people now view checks and balances as antiquated and unnecessary impediments to progress.
Three: Many onetime small-government conservatives, frustrated with the president's success and the impotence and corruption of their party (often a legitimate complaint but often an overestimation of what politicians can accomplish), are interested in finding their own Obama -- or what they imagine Obama is, which is to say, a dictator.
Not that this fetishizing of leadership is confined to the progressive Left or the conservative Right. In fact, more than anyone in American discourse, the self-styled moderate pundit loves to talk about leadership. It would be a full-time job cataloguing how often a person will read about the nation's dearth of genuine leadership -- which is, in essence, a call to ignore the democratic forces that make truly free governing messy and uncomfortable. There are entire conferences teeming with D.C. technocrats trying to figure out how proles can be led to preferred outcomes and decisions. The moderates seem to believe that organic disagreements can be smoothed over by a smart speech or two, and they always mythologize about the political leadership of the past.
For many, it's always the worst of times and we're always in need of the greatest of leaders. It's worth mentioning that Putin was democratically elected, with polls showing his approval rating usually somewhere in the 80s. Unity! Regrettably, sometimes I think that's how unity would look here, as well. We, on the other hand, have disparate forces with an array of concerns, outlooks, and conflicting worldviews. This is why we might be thankful that federalism and individual freedom, often scoffed at, are at the heart of the American Founding.
"There is danger from all men," wrote John Adams in what may be the most genuinely conservative of all positions. Now, obviously, you have to have a certain skill set to bring people to some consensus, to make decisions about war, and to administrate such a massive body as our government. But the president is not your savior. A person empowered to make everything great also has the power to make everything horrible. If a president alone can transform America, then something has gone terribly wrong with the system.
-- David Harsanyi is a senior editor at the Federalist and the author of The People Have Spoken (and They Are Wrong): The Case Against Democracy.
He's a wannabe dictator and the primary reason that he is able to get away with these third world, tin horn dictator stunts is his melanin enriched skin tone.
You made the author's point in fewer than seven minutes. I don't have to read the rest of the thread, and the complaining that is bound to follow.
Your Christmas lunch must have consisted entirely of bull$hit and a big plate of it to boot:
Ted Cruz resume:
Graduated valedictorian in 1988 from Second Baptist High School
Graduated cum laude from Princeton University in 1992
Graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1995
1992 U.S. National Debate Champion representing Princeton
1995 World Debating Championship semi-finalist representing Harvard
Served a law clerk to Chief Justice William Rehnquist, making him the first Hispanic ever to clerk for a Chief Justice of the United States
Served as Solicitor General of Texas from 2003 to 2008, making him the first Hispanic Solicitor General in Texas, the youngest Solicitor General in the entire country and the longest tenure in Texas history
Partner at the law firm Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, where he led the firm’s U.S. Supreme Court and national appellate litigation practice
Authored over 80 SCOTUS briefs and presented over 40 oral arguments before The Court
In the landmark case of District of Columbia v. Heller, Cruz assembled a coalition of 31 states in defense of the principle that the 2nd Amendment guarantees an individual right to keep and bear arms
Presented oral arguments before the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
Defended the Ten Commandments monument on the Texas State Capitol grounds,
Defended the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools
Defended the State of Texas against an attempt by the International Court of Justice to re-open the criminal convictions of 51 murderers on death row throughout the United States
Director of the Office of Policy Planning at the Federal Trade Commission
Domestic Policy Advisor to U.S. President George W. Bush on the 2000 Bush-Cheney campaign
Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Texas School of Law in Austin, where he taught U.S. Supreme Court litigation
Ted Cruz is currently junior US Senator from Texas, defeating Texas Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst who was heavily favored and backed by the DC old-guard GOP
Defeated Democrat Paul Sadler in the general election
Endorsed by The Tea Party and the Republican Liberty Caucus
AWARDS: "America's Leading Lawyers for Business," Chambers USA (2009 & 2010) "50 Most Influential Minority Lawyers in America," National Law Journal (2008) "25 Greatest Texas Lawyers of the Past Quarter Century," Texas Lawyer (2010) "20 Young Hispanic Americans on the Rise," Newsweek (1999) Traphagen Distinguished Alumnus, Harvard Law School
On November 14, 2012, Cruz was appointed vice-chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee
Unlike Obama, Cruz didn't seat in the U.S. Senate and vote "present." He has sponsored 97 bills. Here are a few crucial pieces of legislation sponsored by Cruz:
ObamaCare Repeal Act
Prohibit use of drones from killing citizens of the United States within the United States
Disarm Criminals and Protect Communities Act
Firearm Straw Purchasing and Trafficking Prevention Act
Defund Obamacare Act of 2013
A bill to amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to permit States to require proof of citizenship for registration to vote in elections for Federal office
A bill to designate the United States courthouse located at 101 East Pecan Street in Sherman, Texas, as the Paul Brown United States Courthouse
A bill to require the Secretary of State to offer rewards of up to $5,000,000 for information regarding the attacks on the United States diplomatic mission at Benghazi, Libya that began on September 11, 2012
State Marriage Defense Act of 2014
A bill to amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit the intentional discrimination of a person or organization by an employee of the Internal Revenue Service
A bill to prohibit the Department of the Treasury from assigning tax statuses to organizations based on their political beliefs and activities
American Energy Renaissance Act of 2014
A bill to deny admission to the United States to any representative to the United Nations who has been found to have been engaged in espionage activities or a terrorist activity against the United States and poses a threat to United States national security interests
SuperPAC Elimination Act of 2014
Free All Speech Act of 2014
Guantanamo Bay Detainee Transfer Suspension Act of 2014
A bill to require the Secretary of State to offer rewards totaling up to $5,000,000 for information on the kidnapping and murder of Naftali Fraenkel, a dual United States-Israeli citizen, that began on June 12, 2014
A bill to prevent the expansion of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program unlawfully created by Executive memorandum on August 15, 2012
Sanction Iran, Safeguard America Act of 2014
Expatriate Terrorists Act
Operation United Assistance Tax Exclusion Act of 2014
================================================================
So, exactly where do you see 'career politician' in the above resume, moron?
Why doesn't he just stop the rise of the oceans while he's at it?
I did read the rest of the thread, and I counted thirteen people who agreed with him.
Thirteen’s a good number.
Consider it done.
We have a one Party system with two names...Ronnie Reagan would be a total failure with this crew opposing him...
Do we need a leader with some guts who will undo what our President and his one sided Congress have done??? Absoultely...That, and the power of the bully pulpit to get the people riled up enough to clean out Congress...I’m all for it...
I didn’t expect quite that many Freepers calling for a dictator, but these are strange days.
If you’d bother to listen to his talks at his rallies, all freely available on YouTube. If you’d LISTEN to what he says to his packed, exuberant, supporters, while looking them straight in the eyes, and not reading lies from a Telepromptor.
If you’d consider the various things he has repeatedly said that he can and will do to rectify the many things that have been derailed, besmirched and ruined by the political class. As wdll as his feeling of cleansing after taking communion. I experience that feeling myself.
If you did that, you would realize that although he has not specifically enumerated the things I listed in my reply; that in the DOING of the things he has pledged, he cannot help but, along with correcting the things he promises, also indirectly do the things I mentioned, and more.
Of course, if you disdain Trump because he’s not strictly of the political class. If you dismiss him out of hand, and write him off; you couldn’t possibly take an HONEST measure of the man. So how could you possibly catch a glimpse of the vision HE has for the Nation and has imparted to the people who love our Nation, as it was Founded, and are prepared to support him all the wsy to the White House?
And the pledges he’s made and is making are galactically more specific and noble than the empty “hope and change” that was sold to us by Obama and the lying sychophant media.
Jan 3, 2013 to Present as Senator--Federal government
After leaving the Solicitor General position in 2008, Cruz worked in a private law firm in Houston, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, In 2009 and 2010, he formed and then abandoned a bid for state attorney general when the incumbent Attorney General Greg Abbott, who hired Cruz as Solicitor General, decided to run for re-election.
January 9, 2003 -- May 12, 2008 Solicitor General Texas--State Government
2001-2003 After President Bush took office, Cruz served as an associate deputy attorney general in the U.S. Justice Department and as the director of policy planning at the U.S. Federal Trade Commission--Federal Government
Cruz joined the George W. Bush presidential campaign in 1999 as a domestic policy adviser,
After Cruz finished his clerkships, he took a position with Cooper, Carvin & Rosenthal, now known as Cooper & Kirk, LLC, from 1997 to 1998. Cruz also served as private counsel for Congressman John Boehner during Boehner's lawsuit against Congressman Jim McDermott for releasing a tape recording of a Boehner telephone conversation.
Law clerk to J. Michael Luttig of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in 1995 and William Rehnquist, Chief Justice of the United States in 1996--Federal Government.
After graduating from Princeton, Cruz attended Harvard Law School, graduating magna cum laude in 1995 with a Juris Doctor degree.
Cruz graduated cum laude from Princeton University with a Bachelor of Arts in Public Policy[34] from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs in 1992
In case you haven’t noticed, I already live in a dictatorship and you do, too.
Saying we need someone to follow the constitution hasn’t gotten you very far, has it. Even if McCain or Romney had won nothing would be different.
It will take a man with a powerful ego who loves this country and is grateful for all it’s given him. If he has to bend the rules to get rid of those in power who got there by bending the rules then it’s fine with me.
For a while on Twitter, you could see 5-7 Trump bashing articles a day, one each from Goldberg, Harsanyi, French, Cost, Cooke, Lowery, and a couple of office boys they got to write anti-Trump columns. As disgusting a performance as I’ve ever seen from any “publication,” liberal or conservative.
Surprise, surprise.
These a-sweep-ayes seem to honestly think insulting voters will make the voters love them.
“If it takes a dictator to save this country from what Obama the dictator has done, then I’m all for it.”
That same worldview is what brought the NSDAP to power in Germany in the early 1930s.
And your assurance of his restoration of the rule of law would be... what?
I’m saying it’s the Democrats who control the media. It’s patently obvious they have Hillary/Sanders/0bama’s back with their reporting. NPR is their main paladin.
Yes, but I was referring to NRO and the GOPe media which have attacked Trump non-stop.
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