Michael K. Powell Quotes
It saddens me when public officials and bureaucrats are criticized for ulterior motives, none of which I have ever found in a government bureaucrat, or when someone personalizes disagreements.
Powell, Michael K. "Statement of FCC Chairman Michael K. Powell." Federal Communications Commission, 21 Jan. 2005.
She was the first Black woman to be elected to Congress and was the first Black woman to actively campaign for the Presidency
Harry Hopkins, Franklin Roosevelt's special assistant
This is an important quotation because it was believed by most of the Founding Fathers and the American public until relatively recently. Presidential candidates would not think of publicly campaigning. The view was that anyone who was ambitious for power and authority should not be trusted with it. The idea was first stated by Plato and has been a major view of Western politics since. Many still believe it, but no one has come up with a practical alternative in a large jurisdiction where there is no way to know about the possible candidates without their initiative. Earlier American presidential candidates, although they did not campaign as we know it, got associates to do their campaigning for them. At Presidential nominating conventions, candidates would not even attend. Abraham Lincoln for example never attended the convention at which he got nominated, but he had associates lining up delagates and he was managing their efforts behind the scenes.
Before there was a separation of powers, the term “magistrate” referred to public officials who had the executive and judicial powers as well as some legislative authority. The term “Chief Magistrate” applied to the President of the United States is somewhat of a throwback to this older term and concept. In 17th century Ireland, magistrates were the chief authorities of each subarea, and corruption was rampant. To this day, the invitation to corruption and lack of long term interest in governance is given to support long terms of office and to oppose term limits.
Referring to the defendant, U.S. Congressman Mario Biaggi, in a corruption trial:
Actually he also blamed the students who had become very active in politics in disgust with the corrupt politicians. But the students could block things but were not able to constructively come up with any alternatives. See {613112}.
The House Majority Leader Tom Delay, with a history of ethics violations, got caught in some very serious ones and convinced the House majority leadership to change the rules of the Ethics Committee to prevent the minority from initiating any investigations or inquiries. The Ethics Committee was the only House committee that has an equal number of majority and minority members and before this change, either side would initiate an inquiry.
Michael Kevin Powell is an American former Republican chairman of the Federal Communications Commission and current president of the trade association the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA). He was appointed to the Federal Communications Commission by President Bill Clinton on November 3, 1997. President George W. Bush designated him chairman of the commission on January 22, 2001. Powell is the son of former Secretary of State Colin Powell and his wife Alma Powell.
