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Or powerless. There seems to exist a large, perhaps even predominant, section of the government that exists outside of the control of the democratic process. Th
by revscat 13y ago
Or powerless. There seems to exist a large, perhaps even predominant, section of the government that exists outside of the control of the democratic process. The de jure objection to this is that the Administration can fire and hire at will, and can affect these agencies with that power. The de facto reality, however, is that the President only has limited ability to affect these agencies, much more limited in power than we are taught in school.[1] Further, the oversight abilities of Congress have been negated in ways that are well demonstrated here.
I am no Obama fan, especially in this regard, but I do believe his Administration is the problem. The problem is systemic rather than political, and these institutions are structured such that they are almost entirely outside of the ability of the democratic process to change.
To say that Feinstein has encountered face of the real American government is probably an exaggeration, but not enough of one for comfort.
[1] http://billmoyers.com/2014/02/21/anatomy-of-the-deep-state/ http://billmoyers.com/2014/02/21/anatomy-of-the-deep-state/
- 001sky 13y agoThis is silly. Presidents routinely fire generals, even during military conflicts. The CIA and the NSA are under his direct perview. Buck stops with POTUS on this.
- jfmiller28 13y agoGenerals are easy to fire and rarely have direct effect on the day to day operations. A new general may attack today instead of tomorrow, but it will be the mid-ranking officers who determine what set of rape pillage and plunder happen in the aftermath. It is the same with the CIA. The director may set targets and direct stratagity but it is the untouchable civil servants who run the show. Given the Hall of Mirrors effect, I think it could be possible that the appointed leaders are mere figure-heads just there to take the blame what a job goes bad.
- 001sky 13y ago"Generals are easy to fire and rarely have direct effect on the day to day operations" The second half of this sentence doesn't ring true. The last two major generals Obama fired were McChrystal and Patraeus. Both hugely influential in structuring day to day operations, if not direct tactical decision. The latter was the author of http://armypubs.army.mil/doctrine/DR_pubs/dr_a/pdf/fm3_24x2.pdf http://armypubs.army.mil/doctrine/DR_pubs/dr_a/pdf/fm3_24x2..... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_A._McChrystal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_A._McChrystal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Petraeus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Petraeus