Has the US government been this unstable in the past 40 years?

[Senethro]

Its all part of a radical Republican strategy to undermine faith in big government by governing badly. They're playing 11th dimensional chess and have not lost control of events.

 

[Sommerswerd]

I guess Mattis wants to stay in Syria, the war on terrorism is the new stability

Correct.

Condemn as you see fit, however...as I've said previously... let he who is without gasoline (or plastic) cast the first righteous indignation.

 

[EgonSpengler]

I guess Mattis wants to stay in Syria, the war on terrorism is the new stability

I guess Mattis doesn't want the US to be seen as a country that hangs its allies out to dry on a whim...or at the request of an enemy. Funny how he seems to think taking on the entire world with no allies is something that we don't want to do.

playing the global cop is how we got the war on terror, Mattis is a veteran of that policy

I don't know a lot about Mattis' history, but his resignation letter is pretty clear that he doesn't want to be a 'global cop.' There was an article in the paper this morning that made it sound like China and Russia are Mattis' real concerns, not terrorism.

As to the OP's question, which I guess has already been answered, no. In fact, I think the moments when our government was more unstable was before the 20th Century. Journalists and analysts have brought up Nixon's "Saturday Night Massacre" a lot, but I think this is worse than that was. The 1960s were far more violent and tumultuous on American streets and campuses, but I don't think the government was being upended like it is now.

 

[Farm Boy]

When 100 cities are in riot, the government is not stable.

 

[EgonSpengler]

When 100 cities are in riot, the government is not stable.

I'm separating government stability (internal) from government control (external) here. I don't think the social unrest we've seen recently is as violent or as widespread as it was in the '60s. I wasn't alive for that, though, I only know what I've read, and I guess it depends on whether you count the acts of domestic terrorism (Dylan Roof, the Pulse nightclub) as part of the general political atmosphere or not. For the purposes of what's going on with the Trump Administration (government stability), I'm not counting those, but I think you could definitely include them as part of the larger picture. Purely in terms of chaos in the government, though, I think we've got the 1960s beat. I think you might have to go back to the 1850s, although I'm not as familiar as I should be with Reconstruction. I know there was at least one armed insurrection against a state government after the Civil War was over, that I learned about only recently, but I think the Federal government was fairly stable.

 

[warpus]

When 100 cities are in riot, the government is not stable.

Most Americans are too comfortable with their low taxes and relatively luxurious lifestyle

OR

too busy working 3 jobs to support their family

to riot. Those who assemble to try to push forward change get ridiculed as well. There will not be enough momentum in your country for a large scale uprising of any sort by the citizens for the next couple decades at least, if ever.

The government is clearly unstable. If it were stable, it wouldn't be going through appointments at key positions like a hooker goes through tic tacs

 

[Farm Boy]

Eh, there was significant terrorism and murder and assassination in the 60s. The tone was absolutely awful. Thousands of kids coming back in bags on the regular. Forum and twitter warriors whining at each other and being absolutely mentally challenged individuals over their political rivals does not compare. Trump is an idiot, the executive branch appointments are in chaos, the agencies are staffed poorly. And that matters. But Congress is not engaging in fisticuffs, courts are functioning, and we just passed a fairly significant adjustment to the criminal justice system that's been eluding us for now going on 20 years. It's hit and miss.

 

[Estebonrober]

Yea I specified the last forty years because the Nixon era basically. Interesting to point out the difference between civil discord and governmental discord. I’m not sure we are As stable civilly as first appears. A bad recession is likely to promulgate many events that have been simmering for a while.

 

[Berzerker]

What you call instability I call reform...and reform is always difficult if its worthwhile. This is what I think is unstable, a system that puts millions of people in cages for 'drugs' and throws its weight around the world. Trump inherited that instability and he's actually doing something about it. Why did 9/11 happen? We beat up Saddam and didn't leave. Why are there people coming across the border from Central America? Because we ruined their countries with our corporate "Cold War". Why are we bleeding jobs? Tax and trade policies that encourage businesses to set up shop elsewhere. Trump's ruffling feathers to an instability we've become numb to, and now the left wants us to stay in the Middle East.

Its all part of a radical Republican strategy to undermine faith in big government by governing badly. They're playing 11th dimensional chess and have not lost control of events.

I've heard the GOP uses tax cuts to create deficits that inhibit social spending wanted by Democrats.

Correct.

Condemn as you see fit, however...as I've said previously... let he who is without gasoline (or plastic) cast the first righteous indignation.

I'm paying for our vast criminal 'justice' system, does that mean I cant condemn the drug war and mass incarceration? I dont condemn our presence in Syria, just how we got there. I think we owe the Kurds and if we leave, I want their neighbors to understand we will come back if they need our help.

 

[FriendlyFire]

You mean the rest of the world pays twice what we pay for a barrel of oil? Are they shelling out hundreds of billions a year for the military to play global cop too?

Three guessing to why the US gets to print money as the worlds reserve currency and run a deficit consumption economy
Honestly the US just needs to stop electing ******** Morons into power

 

[Estebonrober]

What you call instability I call reform...and reform is always difficult if its worthwhile. This is what I think is unstable, a system that puts millions of people in cages for 'drugs' and throws its weight around the world. Trump inherited that instability and he's actually doing something about it. Why did 9/11 happen? We beat up Saddam and didn't leave. Why are there people coming across the border from Central America? Because we ruined their countries with our corporate "Cold War". Why are we bleeding jobs? Tax and trade policies that encourage businesses to set up shop elsewhere. Trump's ruffling feathers to an instability we've become numb to, and now the left wants us to stay in the Middle East.



I've heard the GOP uses tax cuts to create deficits that inhibit social spending wanted by Democrats.



I'm paying for our vast criminal 'justice' system, does that mean I cant condemn the drug war and mass incarceration? I dont condemn our presence in Syria, just how we got there. I think we owe the Kurds and if we leave, I want their neighbors to understand we will come back if they need our help.

If he murders someone on Fifth Avenue you will find a way to support it. Its bloody crazy.

To be clear his appointments and treatment of the State Dept. is nothing short of completely ruinous for anything he is trying to accomplish. You want out of the forever wars? I support that, set up a system for withdrawal and execute your plan. You want trade reform with China? I support that, use the proper channels and twist the screws until they listen. Quietly, diplomatically. You want to slow down immigration? I support that too since it is so popular. Pass honest immigration reform and set up a citizenship plan for the 14? million here in the shadows along with your wall.None of this will be done of course because none of this is the point. Republicans do not govern in good faith its just about burning it all down man.

 

[Sommerswerd]

I'm paying for our vast criminal 'justice' system, does that mean I cant condemn the drug war and mass incarceration?

For the third (at least) time... condemn whoever/whatever you want.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Just don't be surprised when you in turn get condemned.

 

[Berzerker]

Now Sen Chuck Schumer is claiming Trump's presidency is the most chaotic in US history. What happened to Lincoln?

If he murders someone on Fifth Avenue you will find a way to support it. Its bloody crazy.

Which of the reforms I've cited are you comparing to murder? Hillary has far more blood on her hands but that didn't stop a bunch of people here from voting for her, I didn't vote for either of them.

To be clear his appointments and treatment of the State Dept. is nothing short of completely ruinous for anything he is trying to accomplish. You want out of the forever wars? I support that

Really? All I see are a bunch of Democrats complaining about how Trump's trying to get us out of Syria and Afghanistan. If Obama was trying to get us out rather than further in, Democrats wouldn't be warmongering, they'd be giving him the Nobel Peace prize. Oh wait... He got one of those before throwing gasoline on Libya and Syria and Democrats found a way to re-elect him anyway.

You want trade reform with China? I support that, use the proper channels and twist the screws until they listen. Quietly, diplomatically.

Why hasn't that worked before? He is twisting the screws, a trade war will get their attention better than decades of quiet diplomacy.

You want to slow down immigration? I support that too since it is so popular. Pass honest immigration reform and set up a citizenship plan for the 14? million here in the shadows along with your wall.None of this will be done of course because none of this is the point. Republicans do not govern in good faith its just about burning it all down man.

I didn't offer a position on immigration, I was explaining why today's problem at the border stemmed from the Cold War which y'all apparently consider less chaotic. Seems chaos doesn't count the messes we create abroad. So, you support reducing immigration because its popular? I dont, I'm one of those 'open border' radicals so dont call it my wall.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Which of the reforms I've cited are you comparing to murder?

None. As usual, your question has no relationship with what he said. He said that you find a way to support D'ump no matter what he does. After you asked this off point question, you went on (and on and on) to demonstrate that he has exactly correct.

 

[Berzerker]

For the third (at least) time... condemn whoever/whatever you want.

You keep dancing around the question. Does that make me a hypocrite? I mean, it aint like I complain about mass incarceration while voting for the people responsible for it.

Just don't be surprised when you in turn get condemned.

In turn? You've been condemning me for years, any surprise is long gone. So, I shouldn't be surprised when y'all condemn me for opposing the drug war and mass incarceration.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

So, I shouldn't be surprised when y'all condemn me for opposing the drug war and mass incarceration.

Mostly you get condemned for the grotesquely dishonest way that you present yourself, not for any ideas that you may have hidden in the muck that you throw about.

 

[Berzerker]

None. As usual, your question has no relationship with what he said. He said that you find a way to support D'ump no matter what he does. After you asked this off point question, you went on (and on and on) to demonstrate that he has exactly correct.

He accused me of supporting Trump if he murdered someone on 5th Avenue. Why? Because I support Trump's effort to get us out of Syria, criminal justice reform, and trade negotiations. So which of those reforms are comparable to murder? You say none, exactly... His logic is: I cant support anything Trump does without endorsing murder.

 

[Gori the Grey]

The one thing I know is you'd ask me to cite the law proving that murder was actually a crime.

And then report finding it too long to read.

 

[FriendlyFire]

Why hasn't that worked before? He is twisting the screws, a trade war will get their attention better than decades of quiet diplomacy.

Enjoy as the entire world turns its screws on Republican state industries then