Power 040717

A political scientist penned a doggerel years ago that, "Presidents have more power than they ought, but not as much as most people thought." It may not be the exact quote but close enough (failing memory) and maybe more relevant today than it was decades ago.

Back in the days the keys to American power were relatively easy to define.  There was sharing between a president and legislature with a court acting as a referee.  The fourth estate (media) was the gatekeeper of information.  The media of the time was comparatively small, three networks, a couple of wire services and a few national newspapers.  This small cadre of gatekeepers attempted to present world events, explain the pros and cons and courses of actions while representing public interest.

The term fourth estate was coined in the mid-eighteenth century as the fourth power of a nation (after nobility, the church, and commoners.) The United States, as a sectarian state, saw church power wax and wane over time. Consider the nobility as the President and Senate while the House supposedly represents the commoners.  With the rise of professional politicians controlling Congress commoners were better represented by the fourth estate.  The right condemned the leftist media while the left complained of rightist control of the message.  In general it was a balanced presentation for the commoners to consider, evaluate and vote. That was 19th century thinking.

In the 21st century power has shifted in America.  The four estate is still around but more diffused, technologies'  social media has become the major gatekeeper. Analysis by respected media commentators is gone, replaced by the contradicting clamor of partisan polls and divergent radical voices.  These exert immense pressure on the country's old power structure.

The Donald (isn't that the name of an angry duck) mastered tweets to entertain, deceive and attack everyone and everything with duck like rants.  He parlayed his tweets to Whitehouse power.  There he continues to rave at opponents of his divine rights and has now discovered the limits of executive power.  The administration attempted to force Twitter to surrender personal information on a government critic.  The request was clearly a political ploy, possibly for an addition to The Donald's self-proclaimed enemies' list.

Twitter filed a federal lawsuit against the administration's illegal request and violation of the Constitution.  The ACLU joined the case with the public lambasting the administration attempted intimidation of the increasing public outpouring of criticism.   It was the administration that became intimidated and withdrew its demand. (The lawsuit is on hold in case of another attempt to end run the Constitution.)

Can we expect an Executive Order that declares the illegal, legal?  What's next for Trump's Troops, secret informer reports of suspected opposition voices?  Will the IRS gear up an audit hit list or should we fear "Night and Fog"  from the rich white power house?