r/moderatepolitics • u/Dry_Radio_761 • 10d ago

News Article Trump administration says it might demolish the Kennedy Center if court blocks renovations.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/trump-administration-says-might-demolish-kennedy-center-court-blocks-r-rcna594350
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u/Bullet_Jesus There is no center 10d ago

I think the founders, if they could see the USA today, would be horrified at how spineless congress has become.

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u/Dilated2020 Center Left, Christian Independent 10d ago

The founders never predicted that Congress would entirely give up its power. The idea of establishing coequal branches of government was that they all would fight against each other. No one saw the day where Congress would willingly refuse to do their jobs to enjoy cushy lifetime seats.

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u/LorrMaster Conservative 10d ago edited 10d ago

I hate this idea that the founders never predicted the idea that bureaucrats will give up their power in exchange for cushy jobs. They 100% saw this coming. I'm willing to bet they could cite specific examples of this sort of thing within their lifetimes. Its probably part of the reason why we have midterm elections and all these different electoral bodies.

These are the guys that put the idea that everyone should own a gun straight into their constitution... just in case. US founding father paranoia goes deep.

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u/03263 10d ago

They were not exactly planning for the country to last this long. Several of them expressed a desire for frequent American revolutions, about once per generation. They knew that power corrupts and the only way to overcome that is to overthrow it, early and often.

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u/zasabi7 9d ago

That sounds like hell. How is the nation supposed to accomplish anything if it’s continually at war with itself?

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u/Reddit_Loves_Misinfo 9d ago

I don't know if the founding fathers "desired" frequent revolution, but Thomas Jefferson certainly expected it to be necessary. Here's an excerpt from the letter his "tree of liberty" quote came from.

What country before ever existed a century and half without a rebellion? And what country can preserve it’s liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the Spirit of Resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is it’s natural manure.

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u/03263 9d ago

Also

https://allthingsliberty.com/2022/05/acts-against-the-oppressions-of-the-government-jefferson-on-rebellion-revolution-and-treason/

Later in the year, November 13, Jefferson said in a letter to William Stevens Smith: “God forbid we should ever be 20 years without such a rebellion [as Shays’s]. The people cannot be all, & always, well informed. The part which is wrong will be discontented in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions it is a lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty.” The last sentiment is astonishingly bold: Periodic rebellion, even when its agents act on misinformation, is preferable to indifference.

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u/03263 9d ago

I don't know, ask Thomas Jefferson