It is 7:30pm. Dinner is in my stomach -- a steak salad -- and I'm ready to go again. My last essay on 'DGB Philosophy vs. The American Republican Party' took a day and a half to write, and it took a lot of energy out of me. But other than this 'sneezing attack' that I'm enduring now from the last coffee and cream that I just downed, I want to finish this next essay here in short order. There is not too much to it other than a few hints as to what directions I may take here in this section in the near future. In some ways, Stephen Harper has steadied the Canadian Government. But with all due respect to the country that I live in, and the Government that runs it, watching, and listening to, and reading about, Canadian Politics these days is about as fun as watching the grass grow. Indeed, with all the rain we have had this summer, I think that watching my backyard grass grow is more exciting.
However, I like watching CNN -- even if The Republican Party thinks that CNN is politically biased -- which I happen to believe that they are not. There is enough ample coverage on CNN -- relative to both parties -- to keep me very busy in this section. It's just I have about 30 or 40 other sections (blogsites) to write as well.
Google...DGB Philosophy. Thank you Google for giving me pretty good philosophical and political coverage.
Let's see.
Regarding my DGB Dialectic Philosophy Bi-Partisan Dream Team in Washington.
There are no rules here as applies to 'past or present American political structure'. I don't know how the White House works. One day maybe I will. I have a few books to read, and within my easy, private grasp in this respect. I think I have one book in particular on the history and evolution of American Government.
But I am not there yet.
And like Obama and McCain and Biden and Palin -- I wish to change the structure and process of American politics, not to duplicate it.
And I'm not even American, I'm Canadian. However, before we go anywhere -- either away from or deeper into this essay -- let's gets a brief introduction to The American Constitution before we start:
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The United States Constitution
Page one of the original copy of the Constitution
Created September 17, 1787
Ratified June 21, 1788
Location National Archives
Authors Delegates of the Philadelphia Convention
Signers 39 of the 55 Philadelphia Convention delegates
Purpose National constitution to replace the Articles of Confederation
United States of America
This article is part of the series:
United States Constitution
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Original text of the Constitution
Preamble
Articles of the Constitution
I ∙ II ∙ III ∙ IV ∙ V ∙ VI ∙ VII
Amendments to the Constitution
Bill of Rights
I ∙ II ∙ III ∙ IV ∙ V
VI ∙ VII ∙ VIII ∙ IX ∙ X
Subsequent Amendments
XI ∙ XII ∙ XIII ∙ XIV ∙ XV
XVI ∙ XVII ∙ XVIII ∙ XIX ∙ XX
XXI ∙ XXII ∙ XXIII ∙ XXIV ∙ XXV
XXVI ∙ XXVII
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The Constitution of the United States of America is the foundation of all law and government in the United States. It provides the framework for the organization of the United States Government and enumerates the powers of the Congress as well as those reserved to the states and to the people, those reserved to the President of the Unites States with the advice and consent of the Senate and to the Judiciary which are tasked to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States and to enforce the laws passed by the Congress.
The United States Constitution describes three main branches of government: The bicameral legislative branch is composed of a House of Representatives and a Senate known collectively as the Congress. Article 1 Section 8 of the United States Constitution places the power of the government in the Congress which makes all the laws. Articles II and III address the powers delegated to the President and to the Judiciary so that they may execute the laws passed by the Congress.
An executive branch led by the President, preserves, protects and defends the Constitution and executes the instructions of the Congress with the advice and consent of the Senate. The president also has certain unique powers reserved to him alone such as the power to pardon, and shared powers such as appointments and treaties made with the advice and consent of the Senate.
A Judicial branch headed by the Supreme Court reviews the laws the Congress has made for their constitutionality. Very early on two principles unstated in the United States Constitution, separation of powers and judicial review were inferred, diluting the powers of the Congress and changing what was initially intended to be a Democracy into a Federalist Republic.
Besides providing for the organization of these branches, the Constitution at first carefully outlined the delegation of powers from the Congress to the other two branches. In practice over the years many powers initially intended to be reserved to the Congress such as a Declaration of War and the making of rules for the military have been ursurped by the Executive branch. Where such ursurpations are not resisted or actively encouraged by the Congress they may achieve the status of precedent
The United States Constitution provides that when called into actual service by the Congress making a Declaration of War and mobilizing the militia the president shall replace the Govenors of the States as Commander in Chief of this Federalized Military. In practice, since the Civil War the militia have not been disbanded and have become a standing army under the control of the Department of Defense and the Pentagon which has removed the need for the president to be called into actual service to be Commander in Chief.
The sole power of removal of officers of the government called for in the United States Constitution is impeachment, but in practice the Congress has allowed persons appointed by the president of the United States with the advice and Consent of the Senate to serve at the will of the President.
The Constitution of the United States has been ammended to include a long list of rights known collectively as the Bill of Rights and also reserves numerous rights for the individual states, citizens.
The United States Constitution was adopted on September 17, 1787, by the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and later ratified by conventions in each state in the name of "The People"; it has since been amended twenty-seven times, the first ten amendments being known as the Bill of Rights.[1][2] The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union was actually the first constitution of the United States of America. The U.S. Constitution replaced the Articles of Confederation as the governing document for the United States, and transformed the constitutional basis of government from confederation to federation, also making it the world's oldest federal constitution.[3] The Constitution has a central place in United States law and political culture.[4] The handwritten, or "engrossed", original document is on display at the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, D.C.
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I found an actual online reproduction of The American Constitution but this I will reproduce at another time.
What is important here is knowing that The American Government is broken up into three main branches:
1. The Legislative Branch which is divided up into two parts: 1. The 'House of Representatives' and 'The Senate' which is collectively known as: Congress. What the difference is between The House of Representatives and The Senate -- I shall have to find out at another time.
2. The Executive Branch led by The President: Let's review in brief the responsibliites of this office:
An executive branch led by the President, preserves, protects and defends the Constitution and executes the instructions of the Congress with the advice and consent of the Senate. The president also has certain unique powers reserved to him alone such as the power to pardon, and shared powers such as appointments and treaties made with the advice and consent of the Senate.
3. The Judiciary Branch: Let's review the responsibilities of this branch as well...
A Judicial branch headed by the Supreme Court reviews the laws the Congress has made for their constitutionality. Very early on two principles unstated in the United States Constitution, separation of powers and judicial review were inferred, diluting the powers of the Congress and changing what was initially intended to be a Democracy into a Federalist Republic.
I'm not sure what that means. I will have to explore at a later date.
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Anyway, here is my 'DGB Philosophy American Bi-Partisan Executive Dream Team' -- completely disregarding the current 'Executive Structure of The American Government' and ploughing ahead with reckless DGB abandon -- to be modified, enhanced, and/or finessed at a later date...
President: Barack Obama
Special Advisors To The President
1. Foreign Policy: Joe Biden
2. Defense: John McCain
3. Anti-or-Counter-Special-Interest-Lobbyism: Sarah Palin
4. Health, Poverty, and Social Assistance: Hillary Clinton
5. Energy: T.Boone Pickens
6. Environment: Al Gore
7. Ethics and Education: Mike Huckabee
8. Economy and Business: Mitt Romney
9. Honorary Special Advisor To The President: Bill Clinton
That will do for now. I will work on this project at a later date...
-- dgb, September 7th, 2008.
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