3 ms·

Separation of powers is a good concept. The problem right now is that all three branches of government have been taken over by the right wing; there is little

Separation of powers is a good concept. The problem right now is that all three branches of government have been taken over by the right wing; there is little disagreement about these things. Separation of powers tends to work best when there is more than one opinion.

bmelton 13y ago
Are you suggesting that the executive branch has been taken over by the right wing?
- betterunix 13y ago
  Does that suggestion surprise you? You are talking about an executive branch that is putting tanks, helicopters, and other surplus military equipment in the hands of local law enforcement. For decades, the executive branch has encouraged the use of plea bargains to avoid having cases go to trial. The soldiers who enforce our laws have been deployed against researchers who published the wrong books. Spies have been sent into peaceful anti-war groups. How would you describe the government that undertakes such actions, and then tries to amass even more power?
  - sillysaurus 13y ago
    The soldiers who enforce our laws have been deployed against researchers who published the wrong books. What? Spies have been sent into peaceful anti-war groups. That's been going on ever since the time of Martin Luther King Jr, and maybe before then.
    - nitrogen 13y ago
      What? Probably in reference to the labs of an author of a well-known pair of oddly titled chemistry books being raided.
  - bmelton 13y ago
    Even with these recent scandals, I find it somewhat difficult to categorize Obama's policies as right wing, but I was just seeking clarification.
  - cmdkeen 13y ago
    Classifying such things as right wing is part of the problem. "Left wing" governments are just as capable of all sorts of statist, authoritarian activity. But saying it is right wing annoys right wing people who are liberal, saying it is left wing annoys left wing folk. Politics is more than a left right axis.
fennecfoxen 13y ago
I'm going to be EXTREMELY CHARITABLE and suggest that your opinion of the branches "being taken over" by the right wing is a statement which only really extends to the scope of their surveillance and antiterror operations, and that you are merely not thinking of certain things that do not affect you as a member of the left wing, like: * IRS targeting of section-504 nonprofits * the National Labor Relations Board's apparent failure to comply with rulings suggesting that their recess appointments were irregular and that they do not legally have a quorum * the Department of Health and Human Services and its campaign to make Catholic institutions pay for birth control and abortions * irregularities in the bankruptcy process around the auto bailouts * et cetera. Given that limitation, I believe it is possible for your argument to be regarded as meaningful. :)

bmelton 13y ago

Are you suggesting that the executive branch has been taken over by the right wing?

betterunix 13y ago
Does that suggestion surprise you? You are talking about an executive branch that is putting tanks, helicopters, and other surplus military equipment in the hands of local law enforcement. For decades, the executive branch has encouraged the use of plea bargains to avoid having cases go to trial. The soldiers who enforce our laws have been deployed against researchers who published the wrong books. Spies have been sent into peaceful anti-war groups. How would you describe the government that undertakes such actions, and then tries to amass even more power?
- sillysaurus 13y ago
  The soldiers who enforce our laws have been deployed against researchers who published the wrong books. What? Spies have been sent into peaceful anti-war groups. That's been going on ever since the time of Martin Luther King Jr, and maybe before then.
  - nitrogen 13y ago
    What? Probably in reference to the labs of an author of a well-known pair of oddly titled chemistry books being raided.
- bmelton 13y ago
  Even with these recent scandals, I find it somewhat difficult to categorize Obama's policies as right wing, but I was just seeking clarification.
- cmdkeen 13y ago
  Classifying such things as right wing is part of the problem. "Left wing" governments are just as capable of all sorts of statist, authoritarian activity. But saying it is right wing annoys right wing people who are liberal, saying it is left wing annoys left wing folk. Politics is more than a left right axis.

fennecfoxen 13y ago

I'm going to be EXTREMELY CHARITABLE and suggest that your opinion of the branches "being taken over" by the right wing is a statement which only really extends to the scope of their surveillance and antiterror operations, and that you are merely not thinking of certain things that do not affect you as a member of the left wing, like: * IRS targeting of section-504 nonprofits * the National Labor Relations Board's apparent failure to comply with rulings suggesting that their recess appointments were irregular and that they do not legally have a quorum * the Department of Health and Human Services and its campaign to make Catholic institutions pay for birth control and abortions * irregularities in the bankruptcy process around the auto bailouts * et cetera. Given that limitation, I believe it is possible for your argument to be regarded as meaningful. :)