Gangster Governments: Why Constitutions Matter
David, You probably know that I live in Turkey. I was laughing--in a very dark way--at my first reaction to your posts, which was, "Man, I hope people in Turkey don't read this. It makes America look so bad."
"Gangster government," you write, "is about expanding government power to help friends and punish enemies." I want to add a little post-script for my Turkish friends. You are, David, unfortunately describing political circumstances that will be very familiar to them.
The big difference between America and Turkey is not that Americans are more ethical people. America, too--obviously--has massive problems with corruption and cronyism and influence-peddling. The big difference is that we've built the system in such a fashion that no one group of rotten, corrupt people can get all the power and keep it for all that long. We've also recognized that people who are in power have a strong impulse to lock up their critics, so we've made it damned near impossible to put people like David Freddoso in jail for calling the President of the United States a gangster. We hope these safeguards will be sufficient to rectify this unfortunate situation. Historically, they have worked quite well, so we're not completely pessimistic.
(No, we don't think having a coup would help. We appreciate the suggestion, though, and your concern.)
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Comments :
Mar '11
Re: Gangster Governments: Why Constitutions Matter
Except for Massachusetts.
Oct '10
Re: Gangster Governments: Why Constitutions Matter
Ioannis
Except for Massachusetts. · Apr 11 at 6:49am
And just about every big city.
Claire, to your subtitle might be appended: And Why Gangster Governors Want Them to Breathe.
Nov '10
Re: Gangster Governments: Why Constitutions Matter
Who is “we?” There are a lot of people in Turkey who trust the Turkish Army more than Erdogan and the AKP.
Re: Gangster Governments: Why Constitutions Matter
Indeed, it can always get worse.
But did you notice that Turkey's parliament at least voted on its involvement in Libya? We cannot say that of our own Congress.
Re: Gangster Governments: Why Constitutions Matter
TeeJaw
Who is “we?” There are a lot of people in Turkey who trust the Turkish Army more than Erdogan and the AKP. · Apr 11 at 7:35am
We--you and me. Americans. We don't think a coup would help to solve a problem like Obama, the Machine, and the unions. Or perhaps there are some Americans who do, but I feel pretty comfortable in saying they're the minority.
Re: Gangster Governments: Why Constitutions Matter
David Freddoso, Guest Contributor: Indeed, it can always get worse.
But did you notice that Turkey's parliament at least voted on its involvement in Libya? We cannot say that of our own Congress. · Apr 11 at 8:24am
True.
Nov '10
Re: Gangster Governments: Why Constitutions Matter
Claire Berlinski, Ed.
TeeJaw
Who is “we?” There are a lot of people in Turkey who trust the Turkish Army more than Erdogan and the AKP. · Apr 11 at 7:35am
We--you and me. Americans. We don't think a coup would help to solve a problem like Obama, the Machine, and the unions. Or perhaps there are some Americans who do, but I feel pretty comfortable in saying they're the minority. · Apr 11 at 8:28am
Oh gosh, I’d never advocate a military coup here or most other places.
Turkey seems to be a special case and in danger of losing forever something quite special that has served it well since 1923. Anything that will preserve that and prevent Turkey from falling into a long period of darkness is good. I defer to you on knowledge of Turkey and it’s people, but I’ve been there and gained a little understanding of it. The Army has saved it from the abyss before. It might be time for that to happen again.
Jan '11
Re: Gangster Governments: Why Constitutions Matter
In most countries that live through oppression, the "government" is usually only the strongest gang at any given moment. I know from experience that this is true in Central America. The ordinary people don't feel they have a stake in politics, and any political struggles are simply turf battles between equally corrupt gangs. The people wait to see who wins, not because they support one side or the other, but simply to see whose butt needs immediate kissing.
You've surely heard it before, but it's true. People in Central America hate the US government, but love norteamericanos. That's because they don't connect us with our government. It just doesn't occur to them that our people are responsible for our government, because they've never felt responsible for theirs.
Our country was a historical oddball, in that in its formative years, the government was across an ocean, out of sight and out of mind. We developed an expectation of local government, and therefore something we're directly responsible for.
Constitutions outline what people expect from government; therefore, you need the people to have expectations in the first place. That's relatively rare.
Jan '11
Re: Gangster Governments: Why Constitutions Matter
TeeJaw
Turkey seems to be a special case and in danger of losing forever something quite special that has served it well since 1923. Anything that will preserve that and prevent Turkey from falling into a long period of darkness is good. I defer to you on knowledge of Turkey and its people, but I’ve been there and gained a little understanding of it. The Army has saved it from the abyss before. It might be time for that to happen again. · Apr 11 at 8:41am
Claire, correct me if I'm wrong, but my impression was that the secularization of Turkey after World War I was mainly accomplished by Kemal Ataturk (sorry - I don't know how to put in the umlaut) and succeeded because of his enormous prestige with the Turkish people. I don't think the army can pull it off again without a charismatic war hero leading the way; do you?
Nov '10
Re: Gangster Governments: Why Constitutions Matter
Margaret Ball
I don't think the army can pull it off again without a charismatic war hero leading the way; do you? · Apr 11 at 10:25am
The Turkish Army stepped in against corrupt governments in 1960, 1971, 1980 and 1997.
Mar '11
Re: Gangster Governments: Why Constitutions Matter
"The Army has saved it from the abyss before. It might be time for that to happen again."
For the benefit of whom? What's the point of democracy if the Army is simply going to overturn elections anytime they (or we) don't like the result? If Turks want Islamism... and it's apparant that a great many do... then let them have it. Boot them from NATO if that's the case. But this idea of the Army "saving Turkey from themselves" is an endorsement of tyranny as long as it's favorable to our interests.
Re: Gangster Governments: Why Constitutions Matter
Douglas: "The Army has saved it from the abyss before. It might be time for that to happen again."
For the benefit of whom? What's the point of democracy if the Army is simply going to overturn elections anytime they (or we) don't like the result? If Turks want Islamism... and it's apparant that a great many do... then let them have it. Boot them from NATO if that's the case. But this idea of the Army "saving Turkey from themselves" is an endorsement of tyranny as long as it's favorable to our interests. · Apr 11 at 11:35am
I agree. I posted a link above to a documentary that's really worth your while if you want to consider what these coups really mean.