Running the Country

This past Monday the New York Times ran an editorial calling for the abolition of the Electoral College.  It made the usual self-serving and historically illiterate arguments against the constitutional system for electing a president. I'm not going to go into them because this post isn't about the Electoral College.

What struck me was the last line in the editorial:  " For most reasonable people, it’s hard to understand why the loser of the popular vote should wind up running the country."  I actually agree with  "most reasonable people" on this point.  However, I don't see why the winner of the popular vote should wind up "running the country" either.

The powers and duties of the president are described in the Constitution, chiefly in Article II.  Search high and wide and you will not find "running the country" anywhere in there.  The president is the head of the executive branch of the federal government, one of three separate and co-equal branches.  He is not, or at least he shouldn't be, head of the country.

That so money people, including the New York Times editorial board, think the president does run the country, is the result of the progressive takeover of the government in the 1930's and of a complete failure in civics education in the United States.

Progressives, like their ideological distant cousins in the European fascist movements, believe that progress depends on organizing and mobilizing society under the direction of a strong leader.  These being the United States of America, our version of fuhrerprinzip didn't descend to the depths of brutality that occurred in Germany or Italy but it was still a dramatic departure from the limited government established by the Constitution resulting in a gross violation of the rights of American citizens.

Nowadays remarks like those that closed the Times editorial pass almost without notice.  It is also far too common to hear journalists and pundits refer to the president as our "commander in chief."  If you are a member of the armed services, the president is your commander in chief.  If you are an ordinary civilian, he is your employee and that is how you should treat him.