tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post97796684067794594..comments2024-03-29T00:39:31.629-07:00Comments on CONTRARY BRIN: Appointing good people... and surviving the bad. And Judo tactics!David Brinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comBlogger57125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-62794705717109904732018-10-01T19:07:39.556-07:002018-10-01T19:07:39.556-07:00
Reminds me of some retail doublespeak which annoy...<br />Reminds me of some retail doublespeak which annoys incessantly!~ Paper towel packages loudly proclaim 6=12!! Toilet paper... 12=18!!! Ridiculous!!!Tuna Hunterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12264670957971467283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-42532114820034677312018-10-01T06:59:18.703-07:002018-10-01T06:59:18.703-07:00Let's say the Democrats get the house and mayb...Let's say the Democrats get the house and maybe the Senate - then the recession comes while Republicans have the presidency.<br /><br />Who do the voters blame?Howard Brazeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08837948125432719131noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-52175672855286812702018-09-29T10:53:39.316-07:002018-09-29T10:53:39.316-07:00Presented without further comment except the boldi...Presented without further comment except the bolding of the concluding sentence...<br /><br />https://theweek.com/articles/798507/rage-brett-kavanaugh-implosion-gop<br /><i><br />What goes around comes around," said [Brett Kavanaugh] the author of </i>The Starr Report<i>, implicitly threatening Democrats with future retribution for daring to hold hearings about multiple accusations of sexual assault against him. The most chilling remark he made all day was when he told Democrats, "You sowed the wind for decades to come. I fear that the whole country will reap the whirlwind." <b>This man belongs nowhere near the nation's highest court.<br /></b></i>Larry Harthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01058877428309776731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-147135115107600782018-09-29T09:44:06.466-07:002018-09-29T09:44:06.466-07:00Reality has a liberal bias:
https://www.electoral...Reality has a liberal bias:<br /><br />https://www.electoral-vote.com/evp2018/Senate/Maps/Sep29.html#item-2<br /><i><br />Fox News (sic) is angry that so much of the coverage has portrayed Ford as calm, and Kavanaugh as angry. "These photos are the perfect liberal narrative. You see the calm, law-abiding, liberal accuser and the angry conservative defendant," they write, directing particular ire toward the front page of the New York Times. <br /></i>Larry Harthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01058877428309776731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-16521698298870850052018-09-29T07:32:00.103-07:002018-09-29T07:32:00.103-07:00Russia's only economic asset its oil, it's...Russia's only economic asset its oil, it's only military strength is cyber-warfare (and even here despite their successful meddling in the US election American cyber resources are vaster and far more sophisticated.<br /><br />https://www.marketwatch.com/story/putins-russia-is-too-weak-to-threaten-anyone-2017-04-11<br /><br />And yet, it is important not to exaggerate his power. In fact, his economy remains a basket case, largely on account of his own incompetence. And we have a few hundred years of geopolitical history to teach us that political and military power is ultimately based on economic power — and since Putin doesn’t have much of the latter, he will have less and less of the former with every year that passes.<br /><br />We knew Russia's weakness two decades ago. Russia is basically Zaire with permafrost, a third world country with nukes, a corrupt mafia state:<br /><br />https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2001/05/russia-is-finished/302220/<br /><br />Enter the mafiya. It has been estimated that 80 percent of Russian businesses pay dan' ("tribute,"or protection money) to a krysha ("roof," or racket), but the real number is probably higher; one may assume that any business operating openly has a krysha. (Entrepreneurs providing clandestine services are less likely to run into trouble.) Mafiozy approach businesses directly, visiting in groups of three or four; one of them speaks in a friendly manner, warning directors that they must pay dan'—15 to 20 percent of their company's gross earnings—or suffer violence at the hands of unnamed gangs. If the mafiozy operate under the guise of a security agency, they may insist that the director sign a contract—a ruse that has deceived some businesses into relinquishing control of their bank accounts. Once a business has acquired a krysha, it must resist the advances of rival gangs or risk falling prey to razborki—a settling of scores over territory. If businesses refuse to pay, which is rare now, the thugs mount an escalating campaign of pressure, starting with verbal threats, moving on to beating and kidnapping, and ending with well-placed bullets or the torture of loved ones or a bomb placed by the door of the businessman's apartment.<br /><br />Read the rest.DPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07087941506162882852noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-16159912290822447492018-09-29T07:23:41.659-07:002018-09-29T07:23:41.659-07:00Putin's Russia is a Potemkin Village - it is w...Putin's Russia is a Potemkin Village - it is weak and slowly dying:<br /><br />https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2018/08/russia-is-weak-and-has-a-rapidly-aging-and-shrinking-population.html<br /><br />Russia has canceled its 5th generation fighter the Su57 (aka T50). They will build in some stealth into older planes. Russia is not able to buy large numbers of its new Armata tanks at $4 million each. They will upgrade older T72 tanks. Russia used to be the world leader in space launches. China has most of their older space rocket designs. Russia has recognized that they cannot compete with SpaceX and China in space launches.<br /><br />Russia cut back its military buildup and has flat military procurement budgets for the next ten years.<br /><br />Russia has had slow GDP growth or negative GDP growth since 2008.<br /><br />If the US economy grows at 4% per year then the US adds more than entire Russian economy ($1.7 trillion) in less than 2 years.<br /><br />Russia is weak and getting weaker relative to the US, India, Europe and the USA.<br /><br />Russia’s population is shrinking again<br /><br />In 2017, 1.69 million children were born in Russia which was down by 203,000 compared to 2016 and equal to the number of births in Russia in 2007. It is the third consecutive year that Rosstat has registered a decline in Russia’s birthrate.<br /><br />In 2016, Russia had 1,893,237 births and 1,887,907 deaths, for a natural population increase of just 5,330 people, not counting immigration. There were about 1,824,340 (12.4/1,000) deaths in 2017. Russia’s population reduced about 131,000 in 2017 from more deaths than births. Russia did have some immigration, Russia population did grow in 2016 by 257,700 people, while in 2017, population growth amounted to only 77,400.<br /><br />Russia has 782,000 births in the first half of 2018. This is tracking to about 1.55 million births for 2018. Assuming deaths stay level to 2017, then this would be a reduction of about 260,000 people in 2018.DPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07087941506162882852noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-82090993138834713362018-09-28T18:41:11.297-07:002018-09-28T18:41:11.297-07:00Zepp: "The American founders while aware of ...Zepp: <i>"The American founders while aware of the drawbacks of a party system, created a set up that made it inevitable."</i> Well, they THOUGHT they were preventing it...and really, it wouldn't be until Andrew Jackson that the 'party' system truly gained depth in America, since the Federalist/Anti-Federalist (Hamilton/Jackson) factions were a rather fluid arrangement.<br /><br />Duncan: Don't get me wrong; a lot of brief laws are passed each year, and a few of them are more complex than "rename this post office." So far as I'm aware, most commonwealth countries are unitary, rather than federal, so you don't have quite the same instance of local state laws setting major terms, which the federal laws interact with. Sometimes, the federal laws are drafted to avoid contradicting state laws, but quite often, they're written intentionally to contradict and alter state laws (e.g., federal law renders marijuana illegal everywhere in America, but several states have opted to decriminalize it- creating a tricky set of issues that bedevil every would be pot seller). It's that sort of contradiction/complexity that results in longer acts (not further specifying what must be done, but injecting new complexity to prevent anything from being done most of the time).donzelionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05991849781932619746noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-91476684071413376202018-09-28T16:33:23.715-07:002018-09-28T16:33:23.715-07:00donzelion
You have 535 lawmakers - 435 in Congress...donzelion<br />You have 535 lawmakers - 435 in Congress and 100 in the second house (senate) - the UK has over 600 in the Commons <br /><br />NZ is a lot less <br /><br />But that should NOT be a barrier to producing short acts - the UK seems to produce a lot of about 4 pages in lengthduncan cairncrosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14153725128216947145noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-30929259234133321792018-09-28T16:29:49.299-07:002018-09-28T16:29:49.299-07:00Duncan: Political parties in England were still pr...Duncan: Political parties in England were still pretty new-fangled in 1789, having been around only since the Exclusion Crisis (a failed effort to exclude Roman Catholics from the throne) in 1679-81. The American founders while aware of the drawbacks of a party system, created a set up that made it inevitable. Their main takeaway from the battle over Exclusion was to include language in the constitution barring Test Acts, which barred people from office or positions of public responsibility based on religious belief. Zepp Jamiesonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16261339498383415026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-27530901671482391282018-09-28T16:25:14.815-07:002018-09-28T16:25:14.815-07:00Re the Tesla court case
Musk twitted "I am c...Re the Tesla court case<br /><br />Musk twitted "I am considering" <br /><br />Now I'm not American but in the "English Language" "considering" means I'm thinking about it and everything AFTER that word is just "possible"<br /><br />In my language that is NOT a promise of action "I'm considering climbing Mount Everest" until I remember that I hate the cold and have difficulty climbing the garden fence<br /><br />I think that this is another one of the American politically appointed legal people doing as their "sponsor" asks<br /><br />The main effect will be that if Musk cannot be on the board of a public concern IN THE USA then his next project will be somewhere else<br /><br />duncan cairncrosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14153725128216947145noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-62675352201484481222018-09-28T16:15:04.794-07:002018-09-28T16:15:04.794-07:00Duncan: Congress will produce a 1000+ page documen...Duncan: Congress will produce a 1000+ page document, consisting of hundreds of 1-20 page documents, and then the executive branch will produce the 20,000+ page regulations to interpret and apply the law. The process of turning the tiny 1-20 page little laws into one big piece of legislation regularly creates internal conflicts, making it hard to apply an engineering metaphor: how does one build to a spec that contains internal contradictions (when seeking clarification is no option, and one must act)...<br /><br />I don't know that we're very good at resolving that, but suspect we're as good as any other country, but have a lot more players injecting the 1-20 page little laws into the big laws to try to create as many hurdles for interpretation as possible (knowing that the law itself won't actually be challenged any time soon most of the time).donzelionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05991849781932619746noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-829599048856275072018-09-28T16:01:36.270-07:002018-09-28T16:01:36.270-07:00LarryHart: re Gamble v US - "This is what the...LarryHart: re Gamble v US - <i>"This is what the Republicans are so hot to have Kavanaugh rule on."</i><br /><br />One of many issues, but mostly, they'd want to avoid a 4-4 split. It's not the sort of 'gun rights' claim that they strongly get behind, more of a libertarian claim. While the analysis linking this to Trump isn't disingenuous, it overstates the link: the double jeopardy element doesn't really link to the Mueller investigation - it's more like 'analysis clickbait' than actually dealing with the implications of dual sovereignty (another product of the illustrious Warren Court, IIRC).<br />donzelionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05991849781932619746noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-34233729059919441622018-09-28T15:55:53.290-07:002018-09-28T15:55:53.290-07:00Re Political Parties in the early days
Your foundi...Re Political Parties in the early days<br />Your founding fathers knew ALL about political parties - they had hundreds of years of experience of political parties in Parliament to look at<br /><br />I have been thinking about the political process and the legislation that is produced<br /><br />Here (NZ) one of the key features of legislation is the "Purpose Statement" - our legislation is all a LOT shorter than yours<br /><br />The idea is that Parliament (or your congress) LEADS - it should produce the TOP document - the specifications <br /><br />Underneath that civil service - the "Bureaucrats" produce the detailed drawings <br /><br />To me it seems that is confused in the USA - Congress is trying to produce the detail documents with thousand page documents AND as a result it is NOT doing it's OWN job of producing clear leadership documents that the civil service can turn into the the actual blueprints <br /><br />duncan cairncrosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14153725128216947145noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-78865786244994241812018-09-28T15:49:05.201-07:002018-09-28T15:49:05.201-07:00Dr. Brin: “Oops, that’s one time we were really re...Dr. Brin: <i>“Oops, that’s one time we were really really wrong.”</i><br />Oops, that's one time we were really wrong. <br /><br />20 years after Brown v. Board, when it was illegal to segregate schools, we should have just realized there's nothing that can be done, leave things alone, stop trying new tactics to break up the structure that imposed it...shrug aside the law and Constitution and those publicly, deliberately defying it - proudly - and moved on to other subjects of greater importance...<br /><br />No. <br /><br /><i>"Stop trying to rationalize."</i><br />Segregation is bad. Forcible school busing is bad. If the only choice is between those two, which does one choose? Of course, it should never come down to choosing the lesser of two evils...but sometimes in life, it actually does. We embrace Stalin because Hitler is worse, and the Japanese sank our fleet. We embrace Communist China because the USSER is worse. We may not like it, but misunderstanding why we've done, or when, is self-defeating.<br /><br />The big errors with school busing were<br />(1) Hoping that the hardship would be temporary...'surely' schools would open up spaces in their classrooms for neighboring kids, rather than forcing them to drive 2+ hours away...after all, they promised to do that repeatedly...<br />(2) Overlooking the fact that defiance to a law can be extremely lucrative, both politically and economically. Once defiance becomes lucrative, it generates its own set of processes for growing and developing further.<br />(3) Overlooking that fact that the liberal/progressive states had developed segregation tricks significantly more sophisticated than Jim Crow, and had implemented them widely. (Palo Alto? San Francisco? Oh yes...) Liberals didn't grasp how many liberal policies they'd enacted were racially charged - or downplayed that aspect (just as FDR tried to sidestep such issues to maintain a Democratic majority). <br /><br />Each of which amounts to underestimating the adversary. Massively. It seldom dawns on liberals that conservatives are often just as smart as they are, but have found that playing dumb is a powerful trick. That's not how the science game is played (no scientist ever benefits from being habitually underestimated by peers) - but it is how politics, diplomacy, war, and many other fact-using professions have always worked. donzelionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05991849781932619746noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-9256780403844715782018-09-28T14:45:29.023-07:002018-09-28T14:45:29.023-07:00Yana: "No treatment of Arthur has surpassed i...Yana: <i>"No treatment of Arthur has surpassed it."</i><br />Well, maybe Monty Python, but that's more of a dissecting/displacing than surpassing.<br /><br /><i>"perhaps you overcredit the stability of evangelical churches."</i><br />I hope I didn't give that impression. Finances drive a great deal behind the scenes, and drive furthest when most desperate. But I take your point and agree - 'an honest hope for authenticity' is exceptionally powerful (and I'm familiar with more than one kingdom built thereby).<br /><br /><i>"abortion is the only reason this unholy matrimony still exists," a later readthru struck out the subsequent clause: "on a national level."</i><br />Ah. In that case, I think you're probably right. Abortion is a 'signalling' tool, used to indicate allegiance. Historically, the churches did in fact segment and schism over other struggles - American history is rife with such divisions and subdivisions (as is Protestant history generally, and most religious history over the long-term).<br /><br />That said, we've never had a 'free press' that operated precisely the way it does now. Limitations of media made post offices the primary purveyor of news for many generations, and as news transmitted through post to bars/pulpits, it took on local hues that supported local cleavage. Yet the old mechanisms no longer apply: it's hard to see what new patterns will manifest.donzelionhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05991849781932619746noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-85112608520207392832018-09-28T14:15:00.501-07:002018-09-28T14:15:00.501-07:00I'd say that the ability to get a job is more ...I'd say that the ability to get a job is more important than optics in TV ads. Stagnation in the one is easily more important than the other.<br /><br />sociotardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11697154298087412934noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-68155832457694031862018-09-28T13:16:06.474-07:002018-09-28T13:16:06.474-07:00Good point LH
Sociotard, 1948 was spectacular and...Good point LH<br /><br />Sociotard, 1948 was spectacular and shame on you for not realizing. The year Orwell’s book came out. The year the US desegregated the military, making then end result inevitable. Establishment of several important international institutions and full momentum for the Marshall Plan. Gimme a break.<br /><br />“Conservatives say there has been no warming in 15 years; the statement is true but looking at different time ranges is revealing…” It was true in no ways, but slimy-lie-able only in a certain blatantly-lying sense.<br /><br />“What if, instead of looking back to the time when the armed forces were just barely getting integrated, you looked back to when you wrote "Earth"? Has anything good come of racial integration efforts since then?”<br /><br />Jesus. Fellah doesn’t notice President Barack Obama. Criminy, have you seen the fraction of TV commercials featuring interracial couples? It is not my job to cure your obdurate blindness. It is dogma driven and I will get nowhere.<br />David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-10052928284345828232018-09-28T12:31:20.937-07:002018-09-28T12:31:20.937-07:00Has anyone else heard of the case before the supre...Has anyone else heard of the case before the supreme court that I just heard about on Stephanie Miller's show, "Gamble vs The United States"? Apparently, the gist of the case is for the court to rule that states may not prosecute crimes that have already gone through the federal courts.<br /><br />This is what the Republicans are so hot to have Kavanaugh rule on.<br /><br />Illegitimate yet???Larry Harthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01058877428309776731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-84835841017452214332018-09-28T11:36:32.681-07:002018-09-28T11:36:32.681-07:00Regarding term limits- I remember discussing them ...Regarding term limits- I remember discussing them once with an older relative of mine. To me they seemed like a fine idea, but she pointed out that the current structure of congress is very seniority driven, so if they are implemented only in some states, you end up with a situation where those states are at a disadvantage for key committees and such. So it would need to be implemented uniformly and with a restructuring of how the seniority system works.<br /><br />In addition, one could argue that it is kind of a profession that must be learned to some extent. There are many arcane rules and processes that are involved in being in congress. So term limits could have some negative consequences as you'd have less people who understand the system. That being said, the current system where the same people stay forever and there's very little fresh blood or competitive seats has its own issues, and I think we've seen that competence at working the congressional rules doesn't necessarily lead to good governing, so I do believe it could benefit from reform.<br /><br />To me though, the problems in congress are a symptom of a much larger problem of voter malaise, too much money in politics, and a broken system of how we even manage elections and districting. Too many decisions that should be made in a non-partisan way are dominated by politics. We don't have much in the way of national standards for how elections and districting should work. I don't know how we get there though.<br />Cari Bursteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05812444306433659243noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-18259921450747473072018-09-28T11:16:01.205-07:002018-09-28T11:16:01.205-07:00Regarding Evonomics, it bugs me that none of the a...Regarding Evonomics, it bugs me that none of the articles are dated.<br /><br />On the other hand, following them on facebook pretty much achieves the same end. And even if they re-highlight an older article on facebook, it is well worth it.Ahcuahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06514651362748555460noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-9059021787040792812018-09-28T11:12:28.984-07:002018-09-28T11:12:28.984-07:00Larry Hart:
I get that. But remember, judicial re...Larry Hart:<br /><br /><i>I get that. But remember, judicial review wasn't even invented until the Jefferson administration.</i><br /><br />If you read Madison's Notes on the Convention, when discussing the Supreme Court they specifically mention, with approval, judicial review regarding constitutionality that had already happened in some states.Ahcuahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06514651362748555460noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-1052107070245212882018-09-28T11:06:36.340-07:002018-09-28T11:06:36.340-07:00Elon Musk is now being sued over his recent tweets...Elon Musk is now being sued over his recent tweets about taking full control and being all funded up. Article claims the government will seek to remove him from serving as CEO of anything ever again.<br /><a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/9/27/17911826/elon-musk-tesla-sec-twitter-lawsuit" rel="nofollow">https://www.vox.com/2018/9/27/17911826/elon-musk-tesla-sec-twitter-lawsuit</a><br /><br /><i> they insist that nothing good has come of 70 years of liberal efforts to reduce race . . . prejudice . . . Their reason? A loopy notion that - were we ever to admit how far we’ve come - good people would feel less incentive to work at the rest of the effort needed, to save the world. </i><br /><br />70 years? since 1948? Certainly since then there has been improvements. But . . .<br /><br />You are falling victim to the reverse of the problem where Conservatives say there has been no warming in 15 years; the statement is true but looking at different time ranges is revealing. What if, instead of looking back to the time when the armed forces were just barely getting integrated, you looked back to when you wrote "Earth"? Has anything good come of racial integration efforts since then?<br /><br /><a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2017/09/11/1706255114" rel="nofollow">Meta-analysis of field experiments shows no change in racial discrimination in hiring over time [since 1989]</a><br /><br />Don't let the Perfect be the enemy of the Good<br />Don't let the Good be the enemy of the Improvable<br />Don't let the Improvable be the enemy of Hope<br />sociotardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11697154298087412934noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-24726945026361842242018-09-28T10:55:16.658-07:002018-09-28T10:55:16.658-07:00donzelion I am cold to your argument. Forced schoo...donzelion I am cold to your argument. Forced school bussing had zero positive traits, achieved zero positive effects, wrought spectacular harm to liberalism at all levels, and has been desperately forgotten by liberals in a mania of amnesia, the same as rightists forget tobacco, ozone, smog, racism and rivers on fire. Stop trying to rationalize. Prove you are sane by admitting… “Oops, that’s one time we were really really wrong.”<br /><br /><br />BTW... buy my books! ;0)David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-35157387675405974652018-09-28T10:40:28.975-07:002018-09-28T10:40:28.975-07:00yana you are right that a reversal of Roe/Wade cou...yana you are right that a reversal of Roe/Wade could nail shut the GOP’s coffin, as their attack on the ACA reversed it from unpopular to popular. Dems are stupidly ignoring the power that could be gained from bragging: “look at which states are backing out of the goddam drug war!” What an incredible polemic to use with marginal, small-L” libertarians!<br /><br />DG: I agree with most of what you said, with one criticism. Do NOT fall for the notion that today’s right represents fair-competitive market economics.. They are enemies(!) of Adam Smith and fair-flat-open enterprise! They are oligarch-lord-cheaters and everything Adam Smith hated! It is time for liberals to declare that WE are the true defenders of REGULATED markets that are to only kind in 6000 years that were ever creative, productive and fair. Our ancestors in the Greatest Generation knew this.<br /><br />Seriously, visit the EVONOMICS site where liberal economists and historians are (finally!) rediscovering Adam Smith and how - today - he’d be a democrat.David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-54095044988161034392018-09-28T09:44:58.011-07:002018-09-28T09:44:58.011-07:00Tim Wolter:
But there were rough and tumble polit...Tim Wolter:<br /><i><br />But there were rough and tumble politics back then. People had armed uprisings over whisky.<br /></i><br /><br />I get that. But remember, judicial review wasn't even invented until the Jefferson administration. I don't think people back then thought of the Supreme Court as a way of imposing a particular political will over the other two branches of government.<br /><br /><i><br />Duels were fought. <br /></i><br /><br />The <i>Hamilton</i> fan in me knows all about that. :)<br /><br /><i><br />And of course the very concept of political parties had not - to our probable misfortune - yet been invented.<br /></i><br /><br />Wasn't George Washington always a Federalist?<br /><br />Larry Harthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01058877428309776731noreply@blogger.com