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Dislike of term "rule" for what presidents do - 9/27 debate
Not fit to print: When one of President Nixon's young daughters, without much thought, referred to her father's "rule"-ing the country, it became a minor scandal. Presidents don't "rule"; they work for the government and try to lead. But I just heard a middle-aged moderator on national television ask two U.S. senators how each would "rule." If we crave a "man on a white horse," to use an expression from an earlier time for the secret craving to have a dictator who can set things right by force of will, why not discuss it outright? If our cultural language has stopped being premised on a theory of democratic government, is this what we want? Do they still use the cultural language of democratic government still used in public TV and in schools, colleges, and universities?