Getting All Cassandra-y

On a more serious note than gaming, I found that the debate between Scott Ritter and Christopher Hitchens held on 20 December of last year is available online. I haven't listened to it all yet but, so far, it's very interesting and quite a bit of fun to boot.

I've been listening to bits of the Alito hearings and reading about them as well. His deference to the Presidency is scary. And knowing that Bush is the President makes it all the more so. I've gone back and re-read Federalist Paper No. 69. It's a strange juxtaposition - Bush's grabs for power & his rejection of oversight vs. Alexander Hamilton's elucidation on "The Real Character of the Executive". I don't doubt that Hamilton saw the President as being a prime mover in politics and, having been an officer through the Revolutionary War, thought that the Executive Branch would have to be a tough son of a bitch to get the country through times of conflict. But he bends over backwards in Federal No. 69 to demonstrate how the President of the United States wouldn't be like a monarch. Plus he shows how certain powers of the President would be equal to that of the governor or New York. He contrasts the absolute powers of a king with that of the qualified powers of the president. An able and strong Executive Branch is one thing, but Bush's disregard for checks on power and his arrogance is despotic. Being a fan of Jefferson's, I think that the dislocation of the House of Representatives and its ability to check Executive power from the situation today is a catastrophe. Congress generally but the House more specifically is the people's in to the government. If there's to be a government for the people, it certainly isn't going to come from Bush. He ran every business his father gave him into the ground and now look at our national debt. (Ooh! It came down a little over a billion dollars since yesterday! We're down to 8,159,084,910,068.58!) Does any plebe like me really have a say with this guy? Does any plebe really think that he shares our concerns? Our best link to the federal government is via Congress and most directly through the House of Representatives. We'd better take advantage of this and soon.

OK, I think I'm gonna go get some chili.