Article: Comes With the Territory: Responsibility, Accountability, Authority in Offices of Power

I remember from my American Government class (which I took mannnny years ago) that responsibility, accountability and authority are indicative of presiding in an office of power. I remember learning about the checks-and-balance concept, and the means by which the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of our government can make sure that no one or no branch can abuse their office of power. I am sure I learned about checks-and-balances in middle school and high school, but I'm not sure if the concept of checks-and-balances was a hypothetical suggestion of how things work in Washington, D.C. or if my textbook actually contained information that was relevant to an actual function of the government. So, being the Curious Georgette that I am, I began to look at the reason why my certainty in the government's function has diminished, and the following is what I found:

When people say that Karl Rove has no power, even though he was the "Architect" of the Bush's political strategies...when people say that there has not been any coercion occuring in matters of the government...when so many people have left their highly-sought-after positions or have been fired (the list is longer than I feel it should be)...your mind begins to deconstruct the message given to you in school and you begin to get some real-world experience. You begin to say "If Bush, then (executive) privilege" and other false logical statements that lead to false assumptions about government and power. You begin to learn about the power of association, blackmailing, blackballing, labelling, intimidation by fear, and surveillance, and you begin to see why you had such terms as McCarthyism written on a flashcard to be memorized for a clear understanding of American history.

Some say, "History is not important." Some have heard, "History is doom to repeat itself if you don't know it." Now that I have deconstructed my given, mental picture of what the US government should be, I have to say I see things that I don't like to see, and they seem reminiscent of the past. I see glimmers of hope and change though shining in the oblivion of false logic, horrific spending policies, and evasive hogwash. I know that checks-and-balances exist in Washington, D.C., but are they being exercised? Looking at the current events of the U.S., one has to seriously ponder if giving an honest response to the aforementioned question would change the occurence of unchecked power. Commenting on the issue should change it; there is a definite need for the usage of checks-and-balance in Washington, D.C.