Blog Archives

What about the role of government? Well, in the abstract, coming from my time and background, I thought it was a rather good thing, but tallying up the ledger in those things which affect me and in those things I observe, I am hard-pressed to see an instance where the intervention of the government led to much beyond sorrow.

-
from [source link]
Kevin Smith added this on 5/2/2009 at 6:32 pm
Category: Op/Ed | Tagged | Permalink

So, taking the tragic view, the question was not “Is everything perfect?” but “How could it be better, at what cost, and according to whose definition?”

-
from [source link]
Kevin Smith added this on 5/2/2009 at 6:30 pm
Category: Op/Ed | Tagged , | Permalink

The Constitution, written by men with some experience of actual government, assumes that the chief executive will work to be king, the Parliament will scheme to sell off the silverware, and the judiciary will consider itself Olympian and do everything it can to much improve (destroy) the work of the other two branches. So the Constitution pits them against each other, in the attempt not to achieve stasis, but rather to allow for the constant corrections necessary to prevent one branch from getting too much power for too long.

Rather brilliant. For, in the abstract, we may envision an Olympian perfection of perfect beings in Washington doing the business of their employers, the people, but any of us who has ever been at a zoning meeting with our property at stake is aware of the urge to cut through all the pernicious bullshit and go straight to firearms.

-
from [source link]
Kevin Smith added this on 5/2/2009 at 6:26 pm
Category: Op/Ed | Tagged , , , | Permalink

For the Constitution, rather than suggesting that all behave in a godlike manner, recognizes that, to the contrary, people are swine and will take any opportunity to subvert any agreement in order to pursue what they consider to be their proper interests.

-
from [source link]
Kevin Smith added this on 5/2/2009 at 6:21 pm
Category: Op/Ed | Tagged , , , | Permalink