Yup. Without him as Secretary of State pushing the WMD stuff that war might never have occurred. He regretted it deeply later.
Re: Who's the most influential unelected u.s. government official?
12joe_lmr wrote: Sat Dec 02, 2023 5:44 pm Kissinger rest in piss and it's not even close
Though I have a feeling this isn't a serious inquiry but it still needs to be said
clocker bob may 30, 2006 wrote:I think the possibility of interbreeding between an earthly species and an extraterrestrial species is as believable as any other explanation for the existence of George W. Bush.
Re: Who's the most influential unelected u.s. government official?
13Edward Bernays should be on the list.
Dave N. wrote:Most of us are here because we’re trying to keep some spark of an idea from going out.
Re: Who's the most influential unelected u.s. government official?
15fascinating bio. i had no idea there used to be ideals in pr.
horrendous ideals, but still.
Re: Who's the most influential unelected u.s. government official?
16Yeah he's right up there with the worst of 'em.hbiden@onlyfans.com wrote: Sun Dec 03, 2023 7:10 pmfascinating bio. i had no idea there used to be ideals in pr.
horrendous ideals, but still.
Dave N. wrote:Most of us are here because we’re trying to keep some spark of an idea from going out.
Re: Who's the most influential unelected u.s. government official?
17i wasn't thinking "deep state" when i first asked this, but it fits i guess...
of course vivek could just admit that afghanistan was more stable when we were in charge. do people still think trump was right there?
of course vivek could just admit that afghanistan was more stable when we were in charge. do people still think trump was right there?
Re: Who's the most influential unelected u.s. government official?
18The General Lee did some impressive jumps while evading Rosco and Enos.
We're headed for social anarchy when people start pissing on bookstores.
Re: Who's the most influential unelected u.s. government official?
19Out of the list presented, it's John Marshall; Kissinger is, maybe, a distant second.
John Marshall empowered the U.S. Supreme Court in a way that was entirely unnecessary: the facts in Marbury v. Madison could've been easily resolved without resort to enshrining the doctrine of judicial review; the motherfucker was personally involved in the facts of the case! He shouldn't have had anything to do with the result. In a way he began another time-honored tradition of the U.S. Supreme Court: working backwards from the result you want and twisting the law to fit it, and refusing to recuse oneself despite overwhelming evidence of a potential bias. Judicial review's effect on public policy is utterly incalculable
Marshall's opinion in Johnson v. M'Intosh, his delineation of the "discovery doctrine" and conclusions about sovereignty, was monumentally nonsensical (if not entirely idiotic or disingenuous), but was taken seriously all over the world and only recently has been called into question; the devastating impact this decision had on American Indians is also incalculable, and his attempts to ameliorate the effects with subsequent decisions did nothing to stop the continued annihilation of American Indian populations/cultures.
John Marshall empowered the U.S. Supreme Court in a way that was entirely unnecessary: the facts in Marbury v. Madison could've been easily resolved without resort to enshrining the doctrine of judicial review; the motherfucker was personally involved in the facts of the case! He shouldn't have had anything to do with the result. In a way he began another time-honored tradition of the U.S. Supreme Court: working backwards from the result you want and twisting the law to fit it, and refusing to recuse oneself despite overwhelming evidence of a potential bias. Judicial review's effect on public policy is utterly incalculable
Marshall's opinion in Johnson v. M'Intosh, his delineation of the "discovery doctrine" and conclusions about sovereignty, was monumentally nonsensical (if not entirely idiotic or disingenuous), but was taken seriously all over the world and only recently has been called into question; the devastating impact this decision had on American Indians is also incalculable, and his attempts to ameliorate the effects with subsequent decisions did nothing to stop the continued annihilation of American Indian populations/cultures.
f/k/a: chromodynamic
Re: Who's the most influential unelected u.s. government official?
20I'd never heard of this until this excellent interview about a year ago:
EDIT: maybe it was this interview first actually, also very interesting background on the subject: