Preventive Measures Quotes
This language is from the earlier version of the Constitution passed in the middle of the 19th century.
Ideally problems of government would be prevented by good planning and anticipation. Once the political problem becomes evident, it is usually too late to resolve it well at reasonable cost. Machiavelli warned against waiting. However, he never imagined that a political problem would become evident, and the government officials or legislators would not deal with it and delay attempted resolution. However “kicking the can down the road” became very common in the latter part of the 20th century. By the beginning of the 21st century, the extreme political polarization of Congress had caused so much gridlock that almost no problem could be legislated upon, even well after it had been recognized.
He served Presidents Reagan, Clinton, and both Bushes
In WWI Congress had passed a law that prohibited anyone from undermining or interfering with the war effort. The defendants had passed out anti-war literature to young men heading for military service. The court then overlooked the First Amendment and came up with a strange logic where the “clear and present danger” was the test of whether the First Amendment would apply. The anti war pamphleteers went to jail. Today, we look back on this and find it very surprising but this is yet another example of erosion of freedom and civil liberties when the nation is at war. By the 1950s, the Supreme Court had reversed itself and the First Amendment was restored to its original intent.
