http://www.common-place.org/pasley Notes on American history and politics and other matters, by Prof. Jeffrey L. Pasley and guests. Sat, 06 Feb 2010 22:37:18 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 http://www.common-place.org/pasley/?page_id=441&cpage=1#comment-2834 Jeff Pasley Thu, 15 Jan 2009 09:20:51 +0000 http://www.common-place.dreamhost.com/pasley/?page_id=441#comment-2834 An excellent discussion of this article was posted by John Shedd in the "Common-Place Coffee Shop" message board. See http://www.common-place.org/new_bbs/viewtopic.php?t=1195. I may promote his discussion to a blog post soon, but wanted to leave a trace here. An excellent discussion of this article was posted by John Shedd in the “Common-Place Coffee Shop” message board. See http://www.common-place.org/new_bbs/viewtopic.php?t=1195. I may promote his discussion to a blog post soon, but wanted to leave a trace here.

]]> http://www.common-place.org/pasley/?page_id=441&cpage=1#comment-1765 Matt R Tue, 28 Oct 2008 04:05:49 +0000 http://www.common-place.dreamhost.com/pasley/?page_id=441#comment-1765 What I believe "Midget on Horseback" is outlining is the workings of a bureaucracy. Bureaucracies gear very slow, often with the thin guise of public service, which is why it is difficult to decipher what every vote or piece of legislation means in its time--and why it sometimes seems contradicting. It makes sense for those in the political realms, but sometimes it's a complicated game for outsiders to keep up with. The article underscored how in one respect the United States government was only an infant in its relationship with the American Indians, but their perspective was very different. They saw the U.S. government as a very powerful institution, which it was even then, filled with powerful men who often times subverted the checks and balances system of government to ultimately accomplish what the ruling minority wanted. This is what I mean when I say that a bureaucracy is a slow gearing machine, because checks and balances were designed to serve just this purpose: squelch the balkings of one man, one elect...but often times the system becomes corrupt and imbalanced, smoke and mirrors, and before people understand how, a revolution was completed. What I believe “Midget on Horseback” is outlining is the workings of a bureaucracy. Bureaucracies gear very slow, often with the thin guise of public service, which is why it is difficult to decipher what every vote or piece of legislation means in its time–and why it sometimes seems contradicting. It makes sense for those in the political realms, but sometimes it’s a complicated game for outsiders to keep up with. The article underscored how in one respect the United States government was only an infant in its relationship with the American Indians, but their perspective was very different. They saw the U.S. government as a very powerful institution, which it was even then, filled with powerful men who often times subverted the checks and balances system of government to ultimately accomplish what the ruling minority wanted. This is what I mean when I say that a bureaucracy is a slow gearing machine, because checks and balances were designed to serve just this purpose: squelch the balkings of one man, one elect…but often times the system becomes corrupt and imbalanced, smoke and mirrors, and before people understand how, a revolution was completed.

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