Failure Now An Option

[Rooster_Ties]

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/failure_now_an_option

[MoGrubb]

Well, I can see a certain amount of redemption in wholesale failure giving "America's" propensity for competitiveness, if competition is perceived as a need to obtain success. It wouldn't do to compete just to lose, now would it? ['Course we'll screw up any positive influence, adding fuel to our current "dumbing down policy."]

Edited January 17, 2008 by MoGrubb

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

It may be just me, but I see that piece, funny as it is, as wholly political.

MG

[MoGrubb]

It may be just me, but I see that piece, funny as it is, as wholly political.

MG

Huh. I saw it as sociological [political, maybe as a reflection of society].

[Alexander]

This was my favorite part, especially the part about the Articles of Confederation!

Ever wonder why we never hear about the presidents before George Washington?

• Samuel Huntington (March 1, 1781 – July 9, 1781)
  
• Thomas McKean (July 10, 1781 – November 4, 1781)
  
• John Hanson (November 5, 1781 – November 3, 1782)
  
• Elias Boudinot (November 4, 1782 – November 2, 1783)
  
• Thomas Mifflin (November 3, 1783 – October 31, 1784)
  
• Richard Henry Lee (November 30, 1784 – November 6, 1785)
  
• John Hancock (November 23, 1785 – May 29, 1786)
  
• Nathaniel Gorham (June 6, 1786 – November 5, 1786)
  
• Arthur St. Clair (February 2, 1787 – November 4, 1787)
  
• Cyrus Griffin (January 22, 1788 – November 2, 1788)
  

I also LOVE the Hiroshima bit! So true!

[Dan Gould]

Unless there is some bad grammar I'm not aware of, the Articles were poorly conceived, not written.

Edited January 19, 2008 by Dan Gould

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Ever wonder why we never hear about the presidents before George Washington?

• Samuel Huntington (March 1, 1781 – July 9, 1781)
  
• Thomas McKean (July 10, 1781 – November 4, 1781)
  
• John Hanson (November 5, 1781 – November 3, 1782)
  
• Elias Boudinot (November 4, 1782 – November 2, 1783)
  
• Thomas Mifflin (November 3, 1783 – October 31, 1784)
  
• Richard Henry Lee (November 30, 1784 – November 6, 1785)
  
• John Hancock (November 23, 1785 – May 29, 1786)
  
• Nathaniel Gorham (June 6, 1786 – November 5, 1786)
  
• Arthur St. Clair (February 2, 1787 – November 4, 1787)
  
• Cyrus Griffin (January 22, 1788 – November 2, 1788)
  

Excuse my complete ignorance, but I thought Washington was the first President. American history is (or was) not taught in British schools. And my subsequent readings of world history have not focused much on the trans-Atlantic ex-Colonies

MG

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Unless there is some bad grammar I'm not aware of, the Articles were poorly conceived, not written.

We think in words so a fault in conception is usually referred to as a fault in the writing of it.

MG

[MoGrubb]

Wow, George Washington wasn't our first pres? That's a new one on me.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Good! So come on Alexander! I seem to remember you're a history teacher, so spill the beans - ten "Presidents" in seven and a bit years must indicate something seriously different about what was going on.

MG

[Dan Gould]

Its pretty simple - the Articles of Confederation included a "President". As it was conceived, it was a completely different position.

From the Wikipedia entry:

Under the Articles, the president was the presiding officer of Congress, chaired the Cabinet (the Committee of the States) when Congress was in recess, and performed other administrative functions. He was not, however, a chief executive in the way the successor President of the United States is a chief executive, but all of functions he executed were under the auspices and in service of the Congress.

In short, the "President" was little more than the modern day Speaker of the House (if our system didn't include an independent executive). The Constitutional Convention was called to "amend" the Articles, not junk them. Fortunately, the members managed to do so, and the states were called upon to ratify a completely new, and totally different set of ground rules for the young nation.

So, under the Constitution, Washington was the first President.

There were previous presidents under the Articles of Confederation.

Edited January 19, 2008 by Dan Gould

[Alexander]

Its pretty simple - the Articles of Confederation included a "President". As it was conceived, it was a completely different position.

From the Wikipedia entry:

Under the Articles, the president was the presiding officer of Congress, chaired the Cabinet (the Committee of the States) when Congress was in recess, and performed other administrative functions. He was not, however, a chief executive in the way the successor President of the United States is a chief executive, but all of functions he executed were under the auspices and in service of the Congress.

In short, the "President" was little more than the modern day Speaker of the House (if our system didn't include an independent executive). The Constitutional Convention was called to "amend" the Articles, not junk them. Fortunately, the members managed to do so, and the states were called upon to ratify a completely new, and totally different set of ground rules for the young nation.

So, under the Constitution, Washington was the first President.

There were previous presidents under the Articles of Confederation.

Exactly!

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Thanks folks!

MG