The way I look at this is, basically the president took Fred Hiatt’s chew toy away.
There will be a period of mourning in the salons of Washington.
About The Author
BooMan
Martin Longman a contributing editor at the Washington Monthly. He is also the founder of Booman Tribune and Progress Pond. He has a degree in philosophy from Western Michigan University.
Well, the Obama years really have been marked by a retreat of freedom around the globe, but that’s not his fault. It is the period of history in which we live. Periods of freedom and democracy are rare and fleeting. Democracy is unstable. I believe Aristotle recognized this. The stable states of human polity seem to be anarchy, like Somalia and brutal totalitarian dictatorship/monarchy. Maintaining order but with freedom is unstable, like balancing a cone on its point.
It’s easy to balance a cone on its point using a little feedback. Political systems also require constant adjustments to remain near equilibrium. Lots of countries have the trick down; parliamentary democracy often seems to work. The U.S. System of checks and balances is currently being stressed and may needs some tweaks to remain healthy, but many other countries are doing fine.
If we just give this embargo thing another half century, we just might “win”!
wow. didn’t realize they were holding out for intervention.
I’m holding out for the Eastern empire to attack the Huns and bring the West back into the empire. But I don’t think it’s going to happen. The Czar is not going to be restored either, even if one could find a pretender.
are you thinking restoration of Constantine I?
Maybe you can send them an mp3 of Roy Orbison singing “It’s Over!”
to me that freedom is retreating in the big picture. All of South America is now Democratic and has been for a while.
The big challenge is China and what it represents: a technocratic dictatorship with a rapidly growing economy.