There is no leadership in Congress
I was reading the Huffington Post this afternoon and stumbled over a post by Norman Lear – you know the guy who created Archie Bunker or something. Well, it seems for all of his success, Lear still hasn’t figured out our political system. His main complaint is that he heard something he didn’t like yesterday morning;
Wednesday morning the Republican Party held a press conference. John Boehner, Haley Barbour and Mitch McConnell held forth, and if they mentioned “The American People” once, they mentioned them sixteen thousand two hundred and forty four times! They shoved “The American People,” almost literally, into every other sentence. All they did to win in this election was listen to “The American People.” “The American People” affirmed their Republican positions because the Republicans understood “The American People;” and “The American People” understood that they understood “The American People.” And on and on and on and on.
Then Lear goes on for few more paragraphs about how smart and informed he is – all of his reading that led him to the polling place on Tuesday and how woefully uninformed are “The American People” – because we don’t take the initiative to inform ourselves about issues like he does. Mostly, says Lear, it’s because we’re all unemployed and homeless. he sums up with this;
With our votes we “send you to the hill.” That’s what we did yesterday. On the hill we sent you to it is you who have the 360 degree view. We, the American people, do not. We call you our leaders and put you in a position to be just that. Why, then, do you seem to wish to follow our lead? We ache to be led, not polled. We are the American people as you repeated this morning again and again. Remember as well, YOU are the Congress. Lead, gentlemen. And you Democrats, too.
Yeah, what Lear doesn’t understand is that Congress isn’t there to lead, they sit in The People’s House and do the bidding of their constituency – that’s why they face re-election every two years, to account for themselves. The Constitution begins “We the People of the United States…do ordain and establish this Constitution of the United States” It doesn’t say say “We the Congress” for a reason. It’s our country and Congress serves at our pleasure.
And that’s what happened Tuesday. Congress decided two years ago that they know better than The American People in regards to health care and the economy. They decided to lead and they faced the consequences. The Congress is supposed to REPRESENT the people and when they don’t..buh-bye. REPRESENT – it’s right there in the name of one of the Houses of Congress. The President is supposed to lead the country, not take polls and represent the people – he executes the laws that the people write through their representatives.
Maybe Mister Lear should spend less time spouting off on Huffington Post about how smart he is and use that time to take a civics class.
Category: Barack Obama/Joe Biden, Congress sucks, Liberals suck
That self-centered pseudo-intellectual asshole hasn’t changed in the last 30 years. He shat that same load at my undergraduate graduation ceremony, all about how the world was doomed and going to the republicans because the people were stupid, and we were doomed, doomed, doomed. I apologized to my parents for having asked them to travel to attend because of that jerk. His shows suck too.
It’s not that simple. It’s impossible to directly do the ‘people’s will’, and if you think it isn’t, answer me this, which ‘people’s will’ should the ‘representative’ do? Even within those who voted for a candidate there will be a huge amount of difference of opinion on what should be done about certain issues, and how. A huge element of interpretive leadership is necessary to achieve anything in governing.
Well, Jacobite, here’s an example; the campaigner says “I’m going to block overspending” – his constituents vote for him because they believe that. He knows his constituents wouldn’t want him to vote for…oh, say, a turtle tunnel. That’s voting the will of his constituents. If he votes for it, he knows he’s going to have to explain his vote in two years and face the consequences.
We all knew what George Bush would do on 9-11 because he said he’d make America strong in the world again. We didn’t have a list of things we wanted him to do in case such-and-such happened.
It is funny how anyone who disagrees with a liberal, they simply uninformed or stupid. I really LOATH Bill Maher. He seems to love to call Americans stupid and that we need to just do what we are told to by liberals. The sad part is that some people buy this crap. I disagree with someone without calling them stupid if they have a reasonable argument. Unfortunately, I meet very few liberals that have any decent arguments for their positions.
How did the old fossil get to a computer? Did the staff at Whispering Pines Nursing Home forget to do a bed check yesterday?
Ah yes, more bloviating from the arrogant class. Lovely. We’re going to have to listen to them spout off for the next 2 years, I guess.
OT, they’ve been spouting off since 2000. Even when they controlled the government, they were spouting off, seemingly blaming Bush when reality intruded on their la-la land ideas.
I, for one, do not need to be led like a sheep.
Mr. Lear, however, needs to be led exactly like a sheep- straight off a cliff.
Well, Jonn, here’s the problem with that example, constituents may believe whole heartedly in blocking ‘over spending’, and at the same time disagree wholeheartedly with what exactly constitutes ‘over spending’. Who knows, maybe the campaigner’s largest contributor was a turtle fancier and turtle vs. car is a hot local issue. Let’s use something a little more mainstream than a turtle tunnel, like Social Security. Now I guarantee there were droves of old retired folks that voted R this cycle, if you think for a moment they will be OK with any amount of change to the SS structure, think again, the vast majority would scream bloody murder over it. On the other hand, I’m of the mind it should be privatized or phased out entirely, and plenty of Republican and Libertarian leaning folks believe the same. So, which constituent’s will should be done here do you think? Should the politician maybe exercise ‘leadership’ and decide to piss off one set of constituents in favor of others in order to act in the best interests of all? Of course. Leadership is integral to representation. Madison considered us a representative democracy, not a direct democracy. I’d say we are technically a constitutional republic, and that representatives are elected to act in our interests, not as direct representatives of our wishes. Yes we elect them, but I think it’s unreasonable to expect that they will do exactly what you want them to. And frankly it would be unprecedented for that governing body to do exactly what the sum total of it’s constituents wants. Can someone give me an example of a legislative session in the entire history of our country where the elected did exactly what their constituents wanted? The intent defining our representative republic/representative democracy can be found in the words of the men who beat out the foundation of our government, the Federalist Papers are a wonderful read and don’t require an advanced degree to understand. They were after all written in the manner of a series of news paper articles for public consumption. What I read there does not gel… Read more »
Well, I’ve read the Federalist Papers, too, and I’d be happy to address a specific part of that collection that you seem to think I’m wrong about. Please confine your references to the role of the legislature and their roles as leaders.
Wow! What does it take to be that enlightened and all knowing? I mean he topped The Won in this one! Damn.
Geez, why doesn’t the valet parking guy cold cock Lear next time he shows up. Just to make a point. Asshole.
Jonn, how about addressing the particular scenario I laid out first? Which constituents get their expectations met?
You can please all of the people some of the time, and some of the people some of the time, but never all of the people all the time.
Yeah, that third “some” was an “all”.
That’s my point. Thank you ROS.
Thank you, ROS. I don’t like surprises -I can usually guess how my representative will vote on any given issue. If they don’t, I express my displeasure. If we’re all sitting around for someone who’ll vote just the way we want them to vote, we’ll be waiting a long time.
I’m against the death penalty and abortion for similar reasons. Odds are that I won’t find a candidate who’ll vote on that issue exactly like me, so I’ll vote for someone I know will at least vote against abortion.
The Social Security issue is a matter of education. Seniors yell because they think that SS reform affects them when it never has affected current recipients. That’s why we have to change the culture before we get real reform.
Like I’ve said a thousand times, end the Congressional retirement system and repeal the 17th Amendment and Congress will reform itself.
Now, I’m salivating about taking you on in regards to the Federalist Papers.
We’ll have to set up a date and time to debate that ‘after hours’. I need to be on my home computer to delve into that fun.
Sorry, but that sounds like an “Army Sergeant answer”.
To be expected from a retired E6 I suppose. lol
Seriously though, there’s only so much slacking I can get away with at work. I’ve been lucky lately in that we’re having software issues that leave me with more free time. That won’t last.
Hopefully I can do my research and post something tomorrow night or this weekend.
Can you maybe, um, do that as a live blog, too? I’ve so very gotta see this. 😀
“Meathead, listen good.
Shut. Up. You.”
I was just lamenting the lack of ‘civics’ and American Government in secondary education nowadays. You would think, though, that someone of Lear’s generation had been taught an unrevised, correct version of those subjects.
“You would think, though, that someone of Lear’s generation had been taught an unrevised, correct version of those subjects.”
The “new deal” koolaid dumped on his brain by Red-D-R, aka Pres. Roosevelt, America’s first dictator for life, washed all that old school education away….
Archie Bunker & Sanford and Son were plagiarized from Brit sitcoms. I don’t think the turd sandwich known as Norman Lear concocted an original TV show, ever.
I agree, Junior AG. I have found that I’ve learned more on some subjects on this blog in about ten minutes, than I EVER did in a Social Science / Civics class. (And I used to LIKE those classes, too!)
OK Jonn, it’s a little late, but here goes. Our disagreement seems to me, to be about the role of our legislators. You stated in your original article that you felt our legislators should simply represent our exact wishes and that to your mind displays of leadership on their part were inconsistent with their duties. I replied to that idea with the idea that it’s impossible to legislate without exercising some degree of leadership because doing the ‘will of the people’ involves determining which ‘will’ is most constructive for the whole. I offered up Madison, and the Federalist Papers, as source material for discovering the Founder’s intent in relation to the role of our form of government in general. You asked me to “Please confine your references to the role of the legislature and their roles as leaders.” Ok, I offer this to start. From Federalist #10, by Madison, “No man is allowed to be a judge in his own cause, because his interest would certainly bias his judgment, and, not improbably, corrupt his integrity. With equal, nay with greater reason, a body of men are unfit to be both judges and parties at the same time; yet what are many of the most important acts of legislation, but so many judicial determinations, not indeed concerning the rights of single persons, but concerning the rights of large bodies of citizens?” In this passage I hear Madison acknowledge the inability of any system to make everyone concerned happy, and begin to lay the foundation of arguing for a republic rather than a democracy. Next… ”The two great points of difference between a democracy and a republic are: first, the delegation of the government, in the latter, to a small number of citizens elected by the rest; secondly, the greater number of citizens, and greater sphere of country, over which the latter may be extended. The effect of the first difference is, on the one hand, to refine and enlarge the public views, by passing them through the medium of a chosen body of citizens, whose wisdom may best discern the true… Read more »