# What political norms have been lost in the USA in recent decades? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 3, 2017, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-political-norms-have-been-lost-in-the-usa-in-recent-decades/792669 "2017-08-03T02:45:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2017, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-political-norms-have-been-lost-in-the-usa-in-recent-decades/792669/21 "2017-08-09T21:03:06Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > “Sock it . . . to ME?!?!?” :eek: I would not have believed this… ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2017, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-political-norms-have-been-lost-in-the-usa-in-recent-decades/792669/22 "2017-08-10T10:18:22Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Somewhere along the way the dignity of the office of President was lost. Maybe during the Clinton era- I can’t imagine any pre-Clinton president agreeing to perform on a televised variety show. Once upon a time statesmanship was presumed to require some public decorum. Not playing politics here, but didn’t Gerald Ford do a brief appearance on SNL? IIRC, Chevy Chase had a recurring bit mimicking Ford’s frequent stumbles (for the young-uns, Ford fell down a lot for some reason). One show began with Chase doing his President Ford act and falling down repeatedly. Then for the show entry, President Ford himself said the “Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night” line. Unless I imagined this, it might be the earliest appearance of an acting president on a variety show. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2017, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-political-norms-have-been-lost-in-the-usa-in-recent-decades/792669/23 "2017-08-10T11:36:24Z")
> [@pullin](#): > > Unless I imagined this, it might be the earliest appearance of an acting president on a variety show. Nope. Nixon was on Laugh-In 6 years earlier, saying “Sock it to me!” to the camera. ---
**Author:** ![igor\_frankensteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/839c29/32.png) [@igor\_frankensteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/igor_frankensteen)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2017, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-political-norms-have-been-lost-in-the-usa-in-recent-decades/792669/24 "2017-08-10T11:38:12Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > I don’t follow; what do you figure is a case of “ignore the Constitution”-ing? > > IIRC, the Constitution says the President can make a treaty _“provided two thirds of the Senators present concur”_; isn’t that still the Republican position? No. The Republicans position is that even before negotiations are complete, the President is not allowed to even THINK about negotiating. What the Constitution says, is that the Executive branch negotiates treaties, and then Congress approves them or not. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2017, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-political-norms-have-been-lost-in-the-usa-in-recent-decades/792669/25 "2017-08-10T14:55:15Z")
I still don’t know which treaty we’re talking about. Did The Other Waldo Pepper’s question in post #15 ever get answered? ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2017, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-political-norms-have-been-lost-in-the-usa-in-recent-decades/792669/26 "2017-08-10T17:21:33Z")
apparently the democratic process its self [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=833103](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=833103) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-political-norms-have-been-lost-in-the-usa-in-recent-decades/792669.md?page=1)