Jason Spatafore wrote:
> Give me direct vote on all laws that are presented to Congress. That is
> all I ask. Until then, this conversation is pretty much over. It's going
> to be a constant republican vs. democrat vs. independent debate that
> constantly occurs every single day.
>
> Just give me my vote. Don't give the Senator or State Representative my
> vote. Give *ME MY VOTE*.
>
> Until then, everything we say...every action we take, is just rhetorical
> and wasteful to our entire society.
>
> If the people got to vote on national healthcare...it would have already
> passed. If the people got to vote on legalizing tobacco sales, they
> would be banned. If the people got to vote on legalizing marijuana, it
> would still be illegal (by narrow margin).
>
> But the bottom line is that we don't get to vote. We have to figure out
> the smoke screens and guess who the better candidate is. We shouldn't be
> figuring out people and betting on them...we should be having our say
> and moving on with our day. I propose every Thursday being voting
> day..that way, we have our weekends to celebrate and mourn the
> results. :)
>
Wrong sir. Our founding fathers were VERY AFRAID that this kind of
thinking would some day emerge, and they set up very plain language in
the Constitution to try and prevent that. "/Congress shall make no
law...//abridging the freedom of speech"/ It doesn't get much clearer
than that. How about "/The powers not delegated to the United States by
the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to
the States respectively, or to the people./"
We are NOT a democracy. We are a constitutional republic. There are
rulers, and there are the ruled, and with the implication that the
rulers are always better off, a constitution was written that severely
limited the power of any one person or group of people. The founding
fathers recognized the danger of one group of people appointing the
rulers - that is why no one group of people does so. It is why the
president with the consent of the senate appoints judges, it is why
judges hold lifetime office, it is why we have the electoral college
system - so no one person has all the power. If you cannot explicitly
find where in the Constitution a power is delegated to a particular
individual, that power is unconstitutional to hold. Period. If you want
to change it, I suggest you propose an amendment, because the meaning of
our constitution DOES NOT CHANGE. If it did, there would be no way to
enforce it or seek out its enemies, "foreign or domestic." Selectively
interpreting the Constitution is a very slippery slope that will lead to
disaster, or people in power who you do not agree with (our current and
previous presidents come to mind). Selectively interpreting the
Constitution will inevitably lead to your loss of any right granted to
you under it, because "the majority of people think so."
Democracy is nothing but tyranny of the majority. I was walking through
Boston recently, and coming to the Holocaust memorial I saw a quote, a
common variation of which goes as follows:
First they came for the Jews
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Communists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left
to speak out for me.
Martin Niemöller
This serves as a warning, democracy does not protect rights. It enforces
the coercive will of the majority.
These additional powers being granted to the executive branch must be
stopped at all costs. We have already seen what happens when we give the
president the (unconstitutional) power to declare war. Do your research
on the bills and write, but especially, phone our senators and your
representative.
If you have any further defenses of democracy I would be happy to
entertain them.
Austin Wright.
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