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Operation TIPS Cruises Onward

So this I just don’t get. Say you’re John Ashcroft, and you come up with a plan to do such and such. You properly sponsor a bill to allow the appropriate federal department to carry out that plan (among other plans; it’s a big bill). The House takes a look at the legislation and modifies the portion of it dealing with your clever plan. They feel you should not carry out your plan.

Is it not wrong to say “Well, they didn’t understand us, we’re going to go ahead with it anyhow.”? I mean, this is the checks and balances thing, here. The legislative branch does get to say “We don’t think that’s a good idea.” It’s sort of how the entire system works.

The trend I see — and note that I’m not calling these guys evil — is an imperial Presidency; they appear to feel that they are trustworthy people who should be given the power to do what’s right for us. I firmly believe that Bush and Ashcroft are trying to do what’s right for us in their minds. I suspect they just don’t get that some people don’t trust them.

When you think of it that way, it makes more sense. Sure, some of these bills would permit horrendous abuses of power. But Bush knows he wouldn’t ever abuse the power, so what’s the worry? I think it’s crippling to assume that Bush’s goal is to abuse power; it hampers communication. He’d probably do some of the things I consider abusive, but in many cases the things that strike me as abusive might well strike him as abusive as well. Mostly he seems to want freedom to do what he wants without pesky oversight.

Doesn’t make me any happier about a lot of the legislation he’s proposed, though.

3 Comments

  1. Wow… Netscape manages to render this page as nearly complete gibberish… plus the comment box disappears completely when trying to make a comment. I’m glad I have a backup-copy of IE. Weird.

    I think I agree with your take on Bush, and his approaches. Someone once commented, under the Clinton administration that with the House fighting the Senate and both disagreeing with the President that they were really frustrated about how nothing seemed to get done. And I replied, “Well, that’s how it’s supposed to work. I’m certainly glad that no one person or entity can just do what they feel they need to do.” That’s what the checks and balances are for, damnit. They didn’t get it. Muttered something about ‘inefficient’.

    I don’t want efficient. I want a government that doesn’t stomp on people and do things ‘for their own good.’

    Ahem.

    Anyway. I like your political rants. They make me think, and I’ll miss you on LJ, but I guess that when I’m in the mood for a rant I can just come here. Yay!

  2. Bryant Bryant

    Grr, that’s a pain. What version of Netscape, if I can ask?

    I will also offer an unsolicited recommendation for Mozilla 1.0; it’s pretty solid on my Mac and I’ve replaced IE with it.

  3. Liralen Li Liralen Li

    It’s an ancient, 4.74 version of Netscape, it’s the only one that my work environment will support.

    I’ll look into Mozilla. Yum.

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