Groups | Search | Server Info | Keyboard shortcuts | Login | Register [http] [https] [nntp] [nntps]

Groups > rec.arts.sf.written > #661746

Re: [OT] The Mother of All Government Shutdowns

Show all headers | View raw

Lynn McGuire  <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>The nice about the Presidency of the USA is that we change it out every 
>4 to 8 years.  Nobody gets to be President for life, passing it to their 
>son...

This is the wonderful thing about the democratic process.  Some people seem
to want kings, and the problem with kings is that sometimes you get a good
one and sometimes you get a bad one and it's hard to change them out when
you get a bad one.  And sometimes you get a good one and his son turns out 
to be not so good.

And this is why people in the international community are so terrified when
an American president buddies-up to people like Mobutu Sese Seko, or to 
Vladimir Putin, and then speak in public about how they wish they could be
"President for Life... doesn't that sound good?"

Thailand had for many years an amazing king who did a great job of keeping
the country neutral when everything around his country was collapsing.  He
managed threading the needle between Axis and Allies in WWII and then east 
and west during the Cold War and to some extent even the Vietnam War.  When
I was a kid, Thailand was a third-world country on the way up and today there
is nothing third-world about it.  But... King Bhumibol died in 2016 and his
son has been having a hard time of it.  He's doing better, but he's no Bhumibol.

When people talked to me about how they want a king who can just sweepingly
fix everything himself, for years I agreed that this can work because I
thought of Bhumibol.  But now I'm not so sure, because nobody lives forever.
--scott
-- 
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Back to rec.arts.sf.written | Previous | Next — Previous in thread | Next in thread | Find similar | Unroll thread

Thread

[OT] The Mother of All Government Shutdowns quadibloc@invalid.com (John Savard) - 2026-11-04 12:27 +0000
  Re: [OT] The Mother of All Government Shutdowns Don <g@crcomp.net> - 2026-11-04 14:14 +0000
    Re: [OT] The Mother of All Government Shutdowns Blaine <cactus_DAC@yahoo.com> - 2026-11-04 07:22 -0700
  Re: [OT] The Mother of All Government Shutdowns Paul S Person <psperson@old.netcom.invalid> - 2026-11-04 10:35 -0800
  Re: [OT] The Mother of All Government Shutdowns William Hyde <wthyde1953@gmail.com> - 2026-11-04 15:42 -0500
    Re: [OT] The Mother of All Government Shutdowns bliss <bliss-sf4ever@dslextreme.com> - 2026-11-04 15:55 -0800
      Re: [OT] The Mother of All Government Shutdowns William Hyde <wthyde1953@gmail.com> - 2026-11-05 17:36 -0500
        Re: [OT] The Mother of All Government Shutdowns jdnicoll@panix.com (James Nicoll) - 2026-11-05 23:01 +0000
        Re: [OT] The Mother of All Government Shutdowns kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) - 2026-11-05 20:51 -0500
          Re: [OT] The Mother of All Government Shutdowns Johann 'Myrkraverk' Oskarsson <johann@myrkraverk.invalid> - 2026-11-07 01:01 +0800
            Re: [OT] The Mother of All Government Shutdowns kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) - 2026-11-06 18:07 -0500
          Re: [OT] The Mother of All Government Shutdowns Don <g@crcomp.net> - 2026-11-08 18:12 +0000
  Re: [OT] The Mother of All Government Shutdowns Charles Packer <mailbox@cpacker.org> - 2026-11-05 08:50 +0000
    Re: [OT] The Mother of All Government Shutdowns Paul S Person <psperson@old.netcom.invalid> - 2026-11-05 07:47 -0800
    Re: [OT] The Mother of All Government Shutdowns Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> - 2026-11-05 13:50 -0600
      Re: [OT] The Mother of All Government Shutdowns Johann 'Myrkraverk' Oskarsson <johann@myrkraverk.invalid> - 2026-11-06 04:28 +0800
      Re: [OT] The Mother of All Government Shutdowns kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) - 2026-11-05 15:31 -0500
        Re: [OT] The Mother of All Government Shutdowns bliss <bliss-sf4ever@dslextreme.com> - 2026-11-05 13:47 -0800
      Re: [OT] The Mother of All Government Shutdowns William Hyde <wthyde1953@gmail.com> - 2026-11-05 17:58 -0500
        Re: [OT] The Mother of All Government Shutdowns bliss <bliss-sf4ever@dslextreme.com> - 2026-11-05 15:43 -0800
        Re: [OT] The Mother of All Government Shutdowns kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) - 2026-11-05 20:54 -0500
        Re: [OT] The Mother of All Government Shutdowns Cryptoengineer <petertrei@gmail.com> - 2026-11-06 17:52 -0500
          Re: [OT] The Mother of All Government Shutdowns bliss <bliss-sf4ever@dslextreme.com> - 2026-11-06 17:22 -0800
            All in the family (was: Re: [OT] The Mother of All Government Shutdowns) Nuno Silva <nunojsilva@invalid.invalid> - 2026-11-07 08:49 +0000
              Re: All in the family William Hyde <wthyde1953@gmail.com> - 2026-11-07 11:56 -0500
          Re: [OT] The Mother of All Government Shutdowns William Hyde <wthyde1953@gmail.com> - 2026-11-07 11:47 -0500
            Re: [OT] The Mother of All Government Shutdowns Cryptoengineer <petertrei@gmail.com> - 2026-11-08 14:50 -0500
              Re: [OT] The Mother of All Government Shutdowns William Hyde <wthyde1953@gmail.com> - 2026-11-08 15:14 -0500
      Re: [OT] The Mother of All Government Shutdowns Paul S Person <psperson@old.netcom.invalid> - 2026-11-06 08:04 -0800
        Re: [OT] The Mother of All Government Shutdowns scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2026-11-06 17:38 +0000
          Re: [OT] The Mother of All Government Shutdowns Paul S Person <psperson@old.netcom.invalid> - 2026-11-07 09:26 -0800
            Re: [OT] The Mother of All Government Shutdowns Nuno Silva <nunojsilva@invalid.invalid> - 2026-11-07 23:50 +0000
        Re: [OT] The Mother of All Government Shutdowns Robert Woodward <robertaw@drizzle.com> - 2026-11-06 10:05 -0800
          Re: [OT] The Mother of All Government Shutdowns bliss <bliss-sf4ever@dslextreme.com> - 2026-11-06 12:10 -0800
            Re: [OT] The Mother of All Government Shutdowns Robert Woodward <robertaw@drizzle.com> - 2026-11-07 10:20 -0800
        Re: [OT] The Mother of All Government Shutdowns Titus G <noone@nowhere.com> - 2026-11-07 17:35 +1300

csiph-web