election
Most Americans age 50 and above, and all immigrants who have become naturalized citizens, understand that the form of government in our Constitutional Republic, as specified in the Constitution of the United States, has three branches: Executive, Legislative, and Judicial. That one branch cannot wield excessive power, certain “checks and balances” are built into the system to prevent it.
Again, most Americans can tell you that the courts, through their decisions, protect the people against unconstitutional laws passed by the Legislature, that the President may veto a bill sent to his desk, and if they feel strongly enough (i.e. have enough votes), the Congress can override a presidential veto.
That is about as deep as most peoples’ knowledge of the subject goes. Today I would like to share with you some more checks and balances in our brilliant 1791 Constitution.
Before we do that, let’s look at the main purpose of the Federal Government and that is to Continue reading
Dear Readers,
The legions of you begging me for my prediction on the outcome of our imminent presidential election need wait no more!
It’s here.
Regrettably, there is only one factor in the outcome of this election that I can predict with absolute certainty, and it’s not who will move into the residence at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue this coming January.
It was to do with our would-be POTUS (President of the United States), Hillary-Cougar-Rodham-Mellencamp-Clinton. Continue reading
As I was winding up my one and only tour in the Foreign Service of the United States, I was invited by a friend to attend a dinner in Bangkok with a group of senior Thai Police Officers. There were about eight, at least half were four-star generals, and I was the only foreigner at the table.
At this point in Thai history, there was an election underway and lots of discussion and debate about the different parties’ methods of winning votes. One getting a lot of attention in the press was the practice of swooping into a town around election day and just paying cash to residents for a commitment to vote for the candidate of “their” choice. (a practice that, regrettably, has not been completely eradicated).
While this distinguished group of gentlemen discussed the topic over dinner, I just listened, until one bald-headed general turned to me and asked, “So Carl, do you have vote buying in America?”
Gulp…
Continue reading
