Reply #25: They really did get so very many things right, didn't they? [View All]

[PurityOfEssence]

I know you're not asking me, but I thought I'd chime in and thanks for the post.

They understood that the necessities of wartime leadership called for an individual, but that the group should make the important decisions. Having a group run the actual command of a war would be a nightmare, as would entrusting the decision to start it in one person's hands.

It's a great evocation of democracy itself: in a way, the group is delegating the running of the war to the individual, just as we delegate our representatives to be our voice in government.

When people bellyache about problems with the Constitution and want to have a new convention, I just cringe. For one thing, we'd never get as good a deal on religion.