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Ivan W.
Parkins |
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To order Dr. Parkins book, Perspectives For
American Society Contact
info@americanpoliticalcommentary.com |
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About
Ivan W. Parkins: Dr.
Parkins is a retired professor of Political Science from Central Michigan
University. He received his PhD from
the University of Chicago and is a graduate of the United States Naval
Academy. Dr. Parkins served as a naval
officer during WWII aboard the battleship Alabama. He is a recent widower with three
daughters, 3 grand children and 2 great grand children. Dr. Parkins has written extensively, having
authored 3 books and a newspaper opinion column for many years. |
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Front Page |
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A NEW
ADMINISTRATION? By Ivan W. Parkins How should I greet the start of a new
Administration, one for which I did not vote? I hope that it serves America
well. Here, I am dealing with some general
questions regarding presidential leadership and conformity to preconceived
rules. I was prompted in this partly
by a WALL STREET JOURNAL lead editorial 1/11/09(
President Gulliver's Lawyer
- WSJ.com ) pointing to narrowly
legalistic views previously expressed by President-elect Obama’s choice for
the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel. The JOURNAL'S editors are right; Dawn
Johnsen’s writings do suggest that she is best qualified to be President
Gulliver's Lawyer. |
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ECONOMIC DOWNTURNS, PAST AND PRESENT By Ivan W. Parkins Probably, the greatest difference in
economic downturns is that, until quite recently, most people lived almost
literally “hand to mouth.” The cost of
basic food and shelter exhausted most of the income of many employed
families. The public’s propensity to
spend was not the crux of the problem; how to fill needs was. Increasingly, now, for those who are
employed, much of income goes for discretionary spending. Common purchases are meals out, larger
homes, entertainment, and newer autos or appliances. One major effect of this is that consumer
demand can fluctuate quite suddenly and severely depending upon consumer
confidence. Furthermore consumer
confidence is much influenced by the media. The panic of the 1930s was based
substantially upon unemployment and income losses that threatened the very
existence of numerous families. Now,
even a relatively small decline in employment threatens life-styles and
industrial/commercial activity levels, but not nearly so large a portion of
lives. In the 1930s a large portion of
Americans were still employed in agriculture or in relatively small and local
businesses serving agriculture. Most
farms were small and neither incorporated nor highly mechanized. The urban-industrial depression followed a
decade of declining agricultural prices.
Measured in bushels of wheat or pounds of meat, agricultural
implements and chemicals often cost in 1930 two or three times as much as
they had a few years earlier. In too
many instances, just the cost of shipping produce to market exceeded radio
reports of market prices. The American South had a
disproportionate share of tenant farmers.
There, especially, depression and desperation tended to be
linked. In fertile portions of the
Mid-West (where I grew up) there was more proprietary farming. In most farm
communities, including the small towns, people had vegetable gardens, and
sometimes chickens or larger livestock.
The local food supply was less severely threatened. Even so, I recall stopping to speak with a
friend one evening and finding the family, three generations, gathered at
supper. Supper for all came from one
large bowl of tapioca pudding. From the early 1930s, I also remember my
father saying that “Mr.C.” was highly regarded locally, because he held many
of the local mortgages and he had never been known to foreclose. Some other personal arrangement could
always be made. Recently, while aiding
a family member in a foreclosure problem, I found myself on the phone with a
gentleman from India, the ultimate destination of that obligation. Although our increasingly huge,
organized, diversified, internationally extended, and productive economy is
more extensively regulated than ever before it is also less comprehensible,
even to well educated citizens. That,
too, increases the likelihood of panic.
And, it implies that any large disruption may prove to be more
difficult to remedy than those previously. So far, post-WWII economies, American
and world-wide, have provided material benefits for larger portions of
humanity than ever before. How to
maintain and improve upon that will not soon become a simple problem. I.W.Parkins 109 |
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PRESIDENTIAL LEADERSHIP
IN OUR DEMOCRACY By Ivan W. Parkins Our best Presidents from Washington and
Lincoln through FDR, Reagan, and not excluding G.W.Bush have led, not simply
followed, the people, especially in pursuing difficult policies to the best
available conclusion. In many
instances, particularly war, the people respond to events first with demands
for action, but then tire before an appropriate conclusion can be attained. Even President Thomas Jefferson, a
narrow constructionist of his own constitutional powers, committed what was
probably the greatest assumption of power in our nation’s history. With little consultation of others he
approximately doubled the geographical extent of the United States—through
the Louisiana Purchase.
Extra-constitutional, audacious, and extremely expansionist, it was probably
the greatest coup any American Chief Executive has ever deserved to count. Actually, the opportunity almost
tumbled into Jefferson’s hands, and in circumstances that made delay
unwise. Let’s hope that future
Presidents will, like Jefferson, not fail to value service to the nation
above constitutional ambiguities, personal ideological consistency, or the
other proprieties that help to guide our political system in most
circumstances. How could I include President Bush as
one of our best Presidents? I am
contemptuous of many media/public evaluations of sitting Presidents. Bush succeeded in office a very different
personality. Most of the American
public has been aware of the very
messy and minority popular nature of his success. How many know that Clinton was the last of
only three men, all Democrats, who won twice with less than half of the
popular votes? Beginning with Harry Truman, the best
Presidents of my lifetime have been unmercifully harassed by the media, and
most have left office in low esteem.
It might be a joke, if less tragic for the country. Few, if any, ranked lower than Truman in
leaving office. Truman soon after
emerged as the unpretentious man who had acted openly and decisively in
difficult situations. The Roosevelt's, Theodore and
Franklin, became especially popular and powerful because of their capacity to
“be” news, and to charm much of the news gathering corps. In T. R’s
time, the daily newspaper was still a young and expanding medium. FDR faced greater opposition from printed
media, but he had the advantage of radio,
a medium just appearing in most households. Television has now eclipsed its
predecessors, and shows some sign of losses to new media. Not only did the
Roosevelt's exploit new media to expand executive leadership, they almost
define the temporal extent of that phenomenon. Now, the effect of television has become so
great that not only Presidents but a growing variety of their critics become
familiar to the public. And, the job
of critic often involves both much
higher pay and less responsibility than that of chief executive.
IWParkins109 |
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THE MATTER OF RULES By Ivan W. Parkins The institution of law, i.e. specific
and codified rules applying to varied persons and tribes within a particular
jurisdiction, arose with the collection of such unrelated persons in cities. Today, both the laws of the United States
and those of each individual state fill several volumes. They are few and simple compared to the
legally enforceable rules handed down by various regulatory agencies. One result is frequent conflicts of
rules. Another is that nearly every
person who is really active in public affairs is to some extent a rule
breaker. Political enemies, watching
closely, can discover and use such violations. How that plays out is often the result of
who can manage the best media campaign for appealing to public opinion and
enforcement authorities. Two Presidents in recent years have
faced major impeachment proceedings.
The one whose prior election was by huge popular margins was forced to
resign. The one who joined two other
Democrats as the only persons to win twice without a popular majority either
time beat an indictment (on reduced charges) by the House of Representatives,
by obtaining for his conviction the vote of a majority, but a smaller one
than the constitutionally required two-thirds. In both of those cases the Chief
Investigative Counsel chosen by the House Judiciary Committee was a Democrat,
and both Jerry Zeiffman and David Schippers subsequently published books
denouncing as unfair and legally flawed the impeachment proceedings for which
they had just investigated. What does
that do for the claim that Congress is the primary defender of American
democracy? Too many rules, and selective
enforcement of them, can negate one of the most fundamental provisions of our
Constitution. Bills of attainder, designating individuals for punishment
rather than acts to be punished, are forbidden to both the United States and
the individual states by Article I, sections 8 and 9. But, where violations are numerous and only
rare individuals are selected for punishment, that principal of justice
becomes virtually meaningless. Such
infringement of the principal is especially likely when punishment is
inflicted by the public in reaction to media denunciations that can not be
reviewed in courts of appeal. |
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WHEN IS A RULE REALLY A
RULE? More than two millenniums ago the Greek
philosopher Plato said that a law is a good rule for an average case. I do not agree with Plato’s solution, but I
do approve of executive powers to pardon—even if they, like other
enforcement/non-enforcement decisions, are sometimes abused. I would suggest that those who think
differently acquaint themselves with the huge discretion whether or not to
enforce that this country grants many prosecutors A rule is a rule; is a rule; is a rule. But, any such rule It apt to become The tool of a fool! During service in both the Navy and
several universities I sometimes observed rules made by superiors that seemed
to be aimed primarily at isolating the superiors from any mishap rather than
at improving performance in their domains. As a first classman at the Naval
Academy I observed (and admired) a protest organized by some of my
classmates. Tradition was that, as
first classmen neared graduation, they were allowed some “slack” where the
voluminous Academy rules were concerned.
As my class neared graduation, and wartime service, several of its
members bought or were given bits of officers uniforms. Discovered by commissioned officers, those
became the basis for disciplinary charges.
The response of several of my classmates was to enforce without
exception every rule violation that they could discover among the under
classes, something that was listed among our responsibilities, but usually
done with considerable leniency. As I looked on during a joint lecture
session, a classmate seated behind me whispered to the second-year Midshipman
beside me, who was doodling, “Mr., you are on report for inattention at
drill.” A grimace from the offender produced a demand that he display his
garters, an item of regulation uniform that was seldom actually required of
anyone except plebs (freshmen). The second charge was followed by another
slight protest and produced a third charge, “disrespect to person in
authority.” It took two or three days of such
enforcement to so clog and disrupt the disciplinary system that the
Commandant of Midshipmen, a very proper Regular Navy Full Captain, called us
into Memorial Hall and made concessions. Let’s have fewer rules and enforce them
more systematically. But, let’s also
remember that even the best of rules were devised without perfect foresight
of the circumstances to which they might be applied.
I.W. Parkins 109 |
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Ivan W. Parkins. Use of any material
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