A BBC take on the Copenhagen fail

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The BBC gives 8 reasons why Copenhagen failed. Here is #2

"2. THE US POLITICAL SYSTEM

Just about every other country involved in the UN talks has a single chain of command; when the president or prime minister speaks, he or she is able to make commitments for the entire government.

Not so the US. The president is not able to pledge anything that Congress will not support, and his inability to step up the US offer in Copenhagen was probably the single biggest impediment to other parties improving theirs.

Viewed internationally, the US effectively has two governments, each with power of veto over the other.

Doubtless the founding fathers had their reasons. But it makes the US a nation apart in these processes, often unable to state what its position is or to move that position - a nightmare for other countries' negotiators."

All I can say to that is... THANK GOD. What the article is implicitly saying is that the US is a nightmare to deal with because it is slightly more responsive to the desires of its populace. And because it is much more difficult to enforce the will of the political elite. And the amazing thing? This criticism comes at a time when the "two governments" are more in line than they have been for decades, perhaps since FDR. We are getting Obamacare shoved down our throats when the majority of Americans oppose it. Thankfully, we were spared a white-mans-burden wealth transfer and massive national tax based on dubious and unproven science.

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