We need many Madisons

I just finished Imperial Life In The Emerald City. You can never read enough about Iraq, since the catastrophe is larger than any single book can encompass. I'll have more to say about this book later, but one passage in particular stood out. The author, Rajiv Chandrasekaran, quotes an e-mail written by John Agresto, the person given the thankless task of reviving Iraq's higher education system, with no budget, in a country scarred by war and despotism. The e-mail was Agresto's bitter farewell to the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) at the end of his tour in Iraq:

America's been so successful at being a free and permanent democracy that we think democracy is the natural way to rule--just let people go and there you have it: Democracy. But all the ingredients that make it good and free--limited government, separation of powers, checks and balances, calendared elections, staggered elections, plurality selection, differing terms of office, federalism with national supremacy, the development of a civic spirit and civic responsibility, and above all, the breaking and moderating of factions--all this we forgot about. We act is if the aim is "democracy" simply and not a mild and moderate democracy. Therefore...we seek out the loudest and most virulent factions and empower them...

We, as a country, don't have a clue as to what has made our own country work, and so we spread the gospel of democracy-at-all-costs abroad. Until this country can find a Madison, it would be far better off with just a good ruler.

Agresto's frustation may have gotten the better of him. He overlooked the even larger tragedy: not all Americans would have handled Iraq in this fashion. Unfortunately, those ultimately in charge of the invasion and occupation didn't believe in the principles of "mild and moderate democracy" Agresto describes.

• Instead of limited government, we got a president who claimed the unlimited powers of a "unified executive," with war powers that do not exist in the Constitution.
• Instead of a separation of powers, or checks and balances, we had several years of Republicans in the White House, Senate, and House of Representatives who were (with a nod from a few members of the Supreme Court) eager to put all branches of government under the ultimate authority of the Presidency.
• Instead of the defense of the system of elections that has withstood two centuries of turbulent American history, we had people in the White House, Congress, and the Republican Party drooling over the idea of a permanent Republican majority.
• Instead of the development of civic spirit and civic responsibility, we got a leadership clique who shoved aside the qualified to hire the loyal, and who encouraged Americans to be uninvolved, as if we could defeat Al Qaeda by shopping at the mall.
• Instead of "above all, the breaking and moderation of factions," we had "leaders" who encouraged phony Red/Blue divisions; who were happy to fill the airwaves with shouting instead of discussing; who tried to make Americans believe that they should be as afraid of their next-door neighbors for having principled policy disagreements as they should fear young men willing to crash airliners into skyscrapers.

Mr. Agresto, the foreign policy fruit does not fall that far from the political tree. Fortunately, it's not the only tree in the forest. The Iraq war is not an American tragedy, in which a country's fatal flaws lead to destruction. It is the heart-breaking story of a very small, angry, defensive, and inept part of the country that shunned all the rest, but who made all the rest of us (and the Iraqis) pay the terrible price.

Comments

[Jeff]

Good post.

[1MaNLan]

"It is the heart-breaking story of a very small, angry, defensive, and inept part of the country that shunned all the rest, but who made all the rest of us (and the Iraqis) pay the terrible price".

Its more of a payment plan, actually...at 18 percent interest, compounded daily by ignorance, greed and hubris.

[virgil xenophon]

As if when all three branches of Govt. were
controlled by Democrats under FDR, HE did not attempt to "put all branches of government
under the ultimate authority of the President." I seem to even remember something about attempting to "pack" the SCOTUS. But thats OK if done by a lefty--right?