OT: To My American Friends

[Guest guest]

Hey Martin,

 

> > Good luck to our new President and to all of us. :-) Butch

>

 

 

> A president is someone who is the The chief executive of an

> organisation and who like a chairman, has to confer with a committee

> before making decisions.

>

 

Not really. Even a CEO or Chairman of the Board does not have to confer ..

its just in his/her best interests to do so because they can be replaced at

any time .. no so for the Prez. ;-)

 

The Prez .. he has the right to make a LOT of unilateral decisions and

history has shown that many have done that .. though its wise to get the

blessings of the White House counsel and the Adjutant General .. and his own

party leaders. It is wiser yet to get agreement from .. or at least to

avoid disagreement from .. the " Loyal Opposition. " When there is a single

party gummit its easier to do that than when the political environment is

more healthy and you have shared power.

 

The role of the Prez is not unlike the role and the power of a military

commander .. the Prez must avoid obvious violation of the provisions of the

U.S. Constitution and Federal Law .. and the commander must operate within

the bounds of current regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice

... because .. when either of them step outside those parameters they might

be walking in harm's way.

 

 

> A King is someone who can make and implement decisions overriding the

> opinions of the rest of society and elected representatives. In my

> opinion, America has always had a substitute King including all the

> utter hysteria surrounding their coronation. Only thing missing from

> your coronation was a crown!

>

 

Yea .. we do sorta function that way sometimes. And we are gonna see a bit

more of it under the current administration. ;-) Truth is .. the

majority of folks on both sides of the isle are not happy with the current

bail out proposals .. and smart folks from both sides believe that results

are unlikely to be seen any time soon .. and even the money allocated is

unlikely to be doled out any time soon .. maybe it will not all be

distributed by the time the economy miraculously heals itself via actions of

the private sector.

 

The Republicans are going to give the Democrats all the rope they need now

... up to a point. One reason for this is that nobody has a good solution

to the problems .. and the other reason is that being the Loyal Opposition

at times like this is safer than being the Executor of Policy .. it is

always that way. Some of the nominations being cleared by the Senate now

would never have made it under normal conditions but normal conditions are

not the environment now.

 

President Obama is the MAN .. the monkey is on his back .. the Buck Stops at

his desk .. so he has to do what he thinks is right regardless of whether

others agree. A commander and a president both must make decisions that

are sometimes not popular and they get to bathe in the credit or lack

thereof when their acts succeed or fail. Some current credible polls

suggest that 58% of Americans want the government to do something to get

folks back to work .. and the same poll suggests that 66% of those same

folks do not want the government to run a deficit in troubled economic

times. No way can the president march to the tune of both of those drums.

 

On many issues we will probably see President Obama tack to the center on

the hunch that the media was actually more anti-Bush than they were anti-his

positions per se. So putting an Obama stamp on some of the existing Bush

foreign and domestic policy (with some cosmetic changes) can do wonders and

help unite the country. Senator Patrick Leahy's soft questioning of Eric

Holder is amazing in comparison to his fiery dissection of former Attorney

General Gonzalez) .. and the media silence about the suddenly Patriot Act is

also interesting. Power must be accompanied by popularity if you want to

shine .. that is all that matters now and its all that ever mattered in the

past. ;-)

 

One wise man has stated that, " Today, the media is a group of rather elite

socializers who believe they play a key role in ensuring social justice by

their enlightened ethical commentary. A successful journalist in DC or New

York is instead a social position, analogous to the thousands who lived in

18th-century Versailles, and occasionally were invited to dine with Louis

himself. "

 

 

> Martin

>

 

Y'all keep smiling. :-) Butch

 

PS: Me .. my Harris Tweed jackets and Tux no longer fit me .. I use my

silk ties to tie up tomato plants .. but my camo hunting clothes .. my jeans

and flannel shirts .. they fit well. We have over 600 jars of organic

fruits and veggies canned .. plus two freezers full of same .. and two more

freezers containing Kentucky Lake Catfish and Crappie, Wild Duck, Rabbit and

6 each Whitetail Deer .. and come 28 March I will be adding Wild Turkey to

those freezers. I'm not gonna lose my job cause I ain't got one .. and

though I still have a home mortgage .. my Jeep Cherokee is paid off. A got

a shotgun and a rifle and a pistol .. and like Hank Williams, Jr. sang .. a

Kuntry Boy Can Survive. ;-)