Executive Authority

For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior.       -Ephesians 5:23

Want to get into a really difficult discussion?  At the next party you go to, read this verse and ask everyone what they think that passage means.  You might find yourself invited to fewer parties.  But assuming your fellow party goers are of the mind that the Bible is the ultimate authority in how we should live, the passage brings up a ton of implementation issues, not the least of which is, we men are quite often rather foolish individuals, and the good Lord knows we could probably stand to have someone around telling us that so we don't go off and do something really dumb like saw off a limb we're sitting on or whatever.

There is an involved theological discussion in there, but for the moment, let's just focus on how executive authority plays itself out in the lives of our case study, Arthur and Alex.  Married almost two and a half years as of this writing, said couple could be said to have an equilibrium about which they more or less remain, with decision making and areas of responsibility relatively static.

Jokingly, it might be said that if the husband is the President of a household, the wife is all his cabinet positions.  Let us look to see if a strong case can be made for this delineation in our couple's affairs.

Secretary of State:  Definitely Alex.  If you want to know Arthur's social schedule, or if you want to actually communicate at all with Arthur, your best bet is probably to go through Alex.  Alex arranges all goodwill tours with other sovereign households and is instrumental in formulating policy positions in foreign affairs (i.e. she tries to keep Arthur from sticking his foot in his mouth).

Secretary of the Treasury:  Alex is definitely in charge of the day to day transactions involved with financing, including grocery shopping and paying bills.  Arthur, like any good President, plays a role in formulating the budget (and, without a Legislative Branch has had great success passing it) including such areas as public education (books) infrastructure (cars and utilities) healthcare (insurance) foreign aid (philanthropy) and military (via taxes, our sovereign household has outsourced our protection to the local police department and currently maintains no standing army.  We're kind of like the Vatican in that way.)

Secretary of Defense:  This one is Arthur's.  In the event of invasion on our sovereign territory, it would be Arthur mounting the defense.  Although, it should be noted that Alex insisted in locking the doors at night.

Attorney General:  Arthur actually spends a lot time thinking about Constitutional law, sometimes to the chagrin of his dear Alex who would rather talk about something else.  Should a legal challenge be mounted against our household, Arthur knows just enough law to be dangerous.

Secretary of the Interior:  Alex, all the way.  Left to his own devices, Arthur would live in squalor.  Alex delegates cleaning responsibilities and reproaches any misplacement of resources within our territory.  All beautification project are done at her behest.

Secretary of Agriculture:  Alex, also all the way.  She plants and maintains the household farmland (the pots that sit in a 2" x 7" area outside our front door).  All food imports are carried out under her supervision (groceries).

Secretary of Commerce:  Commercial activity is at something of a saturation point for our household; increased commercial activity would come at the expense of recreational or developmental time which under the current administration is held at a higher premium.  Arthur is the one who plans out investment options, for that reason he'll claim this one.

Secretary of Labor:  At 100% employment, the success of our Secretary of Labor has done a job that is the envy of all other world powers.  Alex probably fits this one the best, just because if there is something around the house that needs doing, she is going to notice it before the willing (if inattentive) Arthur does.

Secretary of Health and Human Services:  Alex by far brings the greatest medical acumen to our small nation.  Her diet plans, exercise regimens, and free physical therapy (that's right; our sovereign land has socialized medicine) clearly distinguishes her as the leader in this area.

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development:  Our sovereign household is in a unique position compared to the other wold powers of the world: we do not hold any sovereign territory.  Our arrangement entails renting a small portion of land for the time being until an appropriate plot might be found for our utilization and development.  Both Alex and Arthur spend time researching and considering the way forward in this area.

Secretary of Transportation:  Arthur, all the way.  All transit machinery is supervised by him to ensure reliable, save transport for all our citizens.

Secretary of Energy:  Alex.  Besides paying the energy bills (a duty held jointly with the Secretary of the Treasury)  she is the one who generally sets the heater and air conditioner.

Secretary of Education:  There is a lot of shared responsibility in this one.  I'll give it to Alex, because she is one of the few people you will ever meet who writes scholar's bowl questions as a side hobby.

Secretary of Veteran's Affairs:  Alex in her profession actually provides healthcare to many veterans of foreign wars, albeit none from our sovereign household.  In this position, she has communicated frequently with the Office of Veteran's Affairs.

Secretary of Homeland Security:  Arthur also fits the bill here.  The delineation between Secretary of Defense and Secretary of Homeland Security is more theoretical than anything; but should we commission the building of a battleship or the like, the domains of the two offices would split.  The Secretary of  Interior in such an event would be required to obtain a harbor for the household fleet.

So there you have it.  As hard as it may be to believe, all these diverse departments get along quite harmoniously, united under the banner Omnia Vincit Amor.