re: #1044 Charles

You may have a point, but the current topic is the economy and the stimulus. Besides, if Gregory had gone on to the attack, Jindal might have come off the better for it. I don’t think it was the right moment for such a series of questions.

That being said, I’ve just finished “American Creation” by Joseph Ellis. He has a less than flattering take on Thomas Jefferson and the views of the man. Jefferson came across on this book as a “true believer” in his revolutionary republican views, especially concerning France. Jefferson also had a facility for ignoring inconvenient facts—such as the Reign of Terror—which did not fit within his world view. His biggest paradox was the he did not believe that the chief executive had the constitutional powers previously exercised by his predecessors—but he exercised those very powers and more while he was President.

My point, though, and this is still the germ of an hypothesis, is that have a “true believer” in high office is not so dangerous as some people fear. The system itself will inhibit them from governing from their personal beliefs and compel them to govern under the law. The concerns about Jindal, and others like him, while valid and unsettling, would not be a “deal breaker” as he would not be able to implement anything like that on a national level—and frankly, I don’t think what has been done in this vein on the state level would withstand a Constitutional challenge.

—-and I did this all on one cup of coffee (but it was a large cup)
BTW—I plan to read some more on Jefferson—but there are a few other books in my reading list ahead of that.