Oh, I have a list of screen names just itching to be used…
Court rules that Individual 1 knowingly signed false documents to be presented to a court in the Georgia court fights.
Huh. TIL these are not the same thing. I though “dittos” were mimeographs, but apparently they’re properly “spirit duplicators” as mentioned earlier, which are somewhat different.
Yes, a common mistake. When people reminisce about loving the smell of mimeographs, they are actually talking about dittos, and the aroma of the alcohol they used. I thought about pointing out that error earlier, but sometime one doesn’t have the energy to fight ignorance about small things.
That was kind. 
Don’t rip our sweet but distorted memories away… that’s all some of us have to snuggle with…
No, it’s cool. I was wondering where dittos fitted in.
TFG pissed me off because he wasn’t ‘gone’ faster than Liz Truss…
There are some very real advantages to parliamentary government. The US is sort of an outlier among modern democracies.
But we’re special.
I think it’s more the fact that it’s so old. The US Constitution went into effect in 1789 and it is the oldest active codified constitution in the world. The parliamentary form of government may be more effective, but I don’t know if the US system can be changed through amendments or if we’d need a new document. Either way, I don’t see that sort of thing happening any time soon, or honestly ever.
Oldest constitution perhaps, but the parliamentary system of government is pretty old:
The modern parliamentary system originated in England in the late thirteenth century , and was formalized by King Edward I of England at a meeting in 1295
(from New World Encyclopedia)
Absolutely! So they could have adopted the parliamentary system created by England centuries earlier.
But that would never have happened, because this was a new nation that had just rebelled against English rule and gained independence. I’m sure the last thing they wanted to do was imitate England. Heck, they didn’t even want a strong central government because they were worried about someone becoming king. As seen in the Newburgh letter, there were people who wanted to crown George Washington and he was adamantly opposed to it. (He also didn’t want to be the POTUS and said, “…my movements to the chair of Government will be accompanied with feelings not unlike those of a culprit who is going to the place of his execution.”)
Their first experiment in government was a confederacy between the former colonies but that was a disaster, and the US Constitution was proposed as another attempt, but with a limited central government. They were clearly skittish about anything resembling the way England governed. (Though they seemed to have no problem adopting English common law.) They also couldn’t get everyone to ratify the Constitution until they added the Bill of Rights after the fact. That’s how worried people were about the new central government becoming a tyranny like England.
My point was that since the US Constitution has remained in force for so long, they haven’t really had a chance to redo how things work. I am guessing if that ever happened, they’d be likely to adopt a parliamentary system. Maybe. Though, I suppose if I’m being realistic, if the government ever has a “do-over” it will be because a dictator takes over. So maybe not.
Not the oldest written Constitution. The Massachusetts Constitution went into effect in 1780, and you could probably make an argument for the Mayflower Compact sorta kinda.
It is still the oldest federal Constitution.
Fair enough.
The constitution of San Marino originated in 1600.
Fascinating. They seem to have covered all types of law from how the government works to the patriarch being responsible for the deeds of sons and servants, across several books. Unless someone is going to insist that a Constitution has to be a single document, I’d say it qualifies as a Constitution, criminal law, civil law, and various regulatory thingies.
The San Marino Constitution though was fundamentally redone in 1974 with the “Declaration of Citizen Rights”. So, it is not considered to be completely in use from when it was first put into place through today, unlike the US Constitution which has only had amendments added since it went into force. (San Marino’s Constitution was also amended in 2002.)
That’s why I had the disclaimer of the US having the oldest “codified” constitution. It’s not the oldest constitution in effect, but it’s the oldest constitution whose original form has remained intact since its inception. San Marino’s current system has really only been around in its current form for a bit less than 50 years, and only portions of the original constitution are still in effect.
By the way, I’m not holding this up to show how great the US is. Rather the opposite; I’m explaining why it is an outlier in some ways (and not good ones).
(bolding mine)
“Who’s this Clinton appointed ‘Judge,’ David Carter, who keeps saying, and sending to all, very nasty, wrong, and ill informed statements about me on rulings, or a case (whatever!), currently going on in California, that I know nothing about — nor am I represented,” Trump wrote. “With that being said, please explain to this partisan hack that the Presidential Election of 2020 was Rigged and Stolen. Also, he shouldn’t be making statements about me until he understands the facts, which he doesn’t!”
“Uh, counsel, Judge Carter is on Line 2. He wants to schedule a contempt hearing tomorrow at 9am sharp.”
Trump keeps digging the hole deeper. But he has no trouble getting out of the hole, because lots of people are letting him stand on their backs.
I know it’s Halloween Season, but why am I picturing Nick Cage on a flaming motorcycle?