Why are so many Americans enamored of the role of the presidency?

[kentuck]

Our Founders, in writing the Constitution, did not put the presidency above the other branches of government. If there was a superior branch, it would have been the Legislative Branch. The very cornerstone of our Constitution is "We, the People". It is not we, the President. It is not we, the Judiciary.

But, in order to have a constitutional Republic, rather than a "pure democracy", they created equal branches of government, where no one branch could abuse their power over the others. Somehow, we forgot that lesson of history.

It seems we have forgotten one of the most important points of our history and are doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past. We fought the Revolution to rid ourselves of King George III. We refused to obey the demands of an authoritarian. Patrick Henry said, "Give me liberty or give me death!". His speech exemplified the passion of the Revolution.

The President was never meant to have the power that we now bestow upon the position. It is blasphemous to see Republicans worship the guy in the White House as if he were another King George. The President was not meant to be a King.

[randr]

1. Citizens United ended the equal powers balance that made America Great

The Court basically handed control of the house to the wealthiest candidate. Congressional Representatives no longer resolve issues, pass laws, or respond to constituents. They only rag about the hot buttons that keep peoples attention. They hit the ground seeking funding for the next election the day they arrive in Washington. The vacuum of leadership, or any reasonable attempt to resolve problems, is left to the Executive Branch which is why we have most governmental actions by decree. The Court has always been a product of wealthy influence and they were just doing the bidding of their masters.

[kentuck]

2. Yep.

Also, the Founders were not very fond of "political Parties". We can now see how "parties" can be used as a divisive instrument of power. Along with corporate money, our democracy survives in name only.

[Initech]

4. Another shitty SCOTUS decision brought to us by Fox News.

[randr]

12. Actually the same people who brought Project 2025

A systemic cabal of individuals and organizations such as the Federalist Society have been since FDR.

[MichMan]

11. Yet, incumbents seldom lose

[bucolic_frolic]

3. The Founders knew the perils of democracy, they were scholars and read every ancient tome

The Fall of Rome was entirely known to them. They tried to temper democracy with wisdom, age, laws, and Constitutional limits on timing, division of powers, age.

But, society has changed, culture has changed. Citizens are not patriots in the same sense. Citizens are stupid well into middle age, and live roughly 25 years longer on average. They are partisan, and the Founders did warn on "factions" as they called parties in their day. Founders could not conceive of the Media Age. This due to psychology, advertising, electronics. These didn't exist in the 1700s.

Lincoln married us to capitalism. Did the Founders know? Women vote now, but they didn't in 1793. Time runs faster now. You can deploy an army in 24 hours. In 1800 it took 6 weeks to 2-3 months. By the time meter alone, Senators, Justices, and the President serve too long. They are afforded too many decades to f*ck things up.

Citizen-legislators of the Artisan class are now career politicians backed by corporate Leviathan's money. Justices are no longer independent arbiters, they are Corporate Courtesans.

Founders set up many filters of various kinds to distill the wisdom of the masses and ensure their cooperation. All the dams have been breeched. They needed to add the Bill of Rights. They should have continued to add the lessons of The Federalist Papers. There are legal, moral, political arguments in there that should be heeded today.

[Ping Tung]

5. There is no worse heresy than that the office sanctifies the holder of it. Lord Acton

[kentuck]

7. And power corrupts...

and absolute power corrupts absolutely. We are there.

[Ping Tung]

6. The same reasons that they they swoon over actors, musicians, millionaires and jocks. Celebrity sells.

[kentuck]

9. Yes, they may swoon over Taylor Swift but...

..she cannot take away their healthcare or send them to die for her.

[usonian]

8. Perhaps in the Kennedy-Nixon debates, politics started to take on a "personality" aspect.

The media love a clown show, since (about that time) news operations were twisted from public service entities into profit centers. Screw MSM.

That was not as toxic as the post 9/11 "unlimited powers act" which only the GREAT Representative Barbara Lee opposed.

And with Captain "Wrong Way Peter Peach-Poker" at the helm? thanks to personality and identity politics?

Ohhhh Noooooooes.

And you got the quite wrong.

[MichMan]

10. Posters here do it constantly as well

Giving the president sole responsibility (or blame) for the budget, deficits and legislation, when they couldn't sign any of those things without congress passing it first. See it all the time