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One could argue that the seeds of destruction are so far entrenched, that there might only be 1-3 cycles left before the destruction of its own democracy is ens

One could argue that the seeds of destruction are so far entrenched, that there might only be 1-3 cycles left before the destruction of its own democracy is ensured. The Iranian clerical leadership was rejoicing on twitter about Trumps election claims and January 6th. This has also been cannonfodder for the Chinese leadership and countless other countries. I'd say the US elites are still somewhat in denial of what actually happened and that it didn't happen in a vacuum, but was years if not decades in the making. Remember that Bill Barr had the unitary executive theory in mind long before Trump came into power, but previous Republican leadership considered it too radical for the American public to accept. Those times have changed...

markus_zhang 5y ago
US elites mostly only care about the trough. They know it but apres moi le deluge is the silent motto of many. The Democratic is no radical different from he Republicans, they simply have a nicer face.
rayiner 5y ago
> Remember that Bill Barr had the unitary executive theory in mind long before Trump came into power, but previous Republican leadership considered it too radical for the American public to accept. The unitary executive dates back to the Federalists: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitary_executive_theory#Adoption_of_constitutional_provisions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitary_executive_theory#Adopt.... You're invoking an anachronism--it wasn't until the 20th century that we even got the idea of "independent" bureaucrats insulated from accountability to the elected President. George Washington's original cabinet consisted of just four members: Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of Treasury Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of War Henry Knox, and Attorney General Edmund Randolph. All of those were plainly intended to be subordinate to Washington as the President.
- mc32 5y ago
  As recently as JFK we had Bobby Kennedy as AG (as competent as he was). Imagine the heart attacks people would have today if Biden tried putting a relative in as AG, or if Trump had tried the same.
  - rgbrenner 5y ago
    What JFK (and others) did is why Congress passed an anti-nepotism law ( 5 U.S.C. § 3110) in 1967.

markus_zhang 5y ago

US elites mostly only care about the trough. They know it but apres moi le deluge is the silent motto of many. The Democratic is no radical different from he Republicans, they simply have a nicer face.

rayiner 5y ago

> Remember that Bill Barr had the unitary executive theory in mind long before Trump came into power, but previous Republican leadership considered it too radical for the American public to accept. The unitary executive dates back to the Federalists: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitary_executive_theory#Adoption_of_constitutional_provisions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitary_executive_theory#Adopt.... You're invoking an anachronism--it wasn't until the 20th century that we even got the idea of "independent" bureaucrats insulated from accountability to the elected President. George Washington's original cabinet consisted of just four members: Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of Treasury Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of War Henry Knox, and Attorney General Edmund Randolph. All of those were plainly intended to be subordinate to Washington as the President.

mc32 5y ago
As recently as JFK we had Bobby Kennedy as AG (as competent as he was). Imagine the heart attacks people would have today if Biden tried putting a relative in as AG, or if Trump had tried the same.
- rgbrenner 5y ago
  What JFK (and others) did is why Congress passed an anti-nepotism law ( 5 U.S.C. § 3110) in 1967.