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Title: Direct Democracy — Why the American People must disband Congress
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URL Source: http://www.infowars.com/direct-demo ... -people-must-disband-congress/
Published: Nov 9, 2009
Author: Mike Adams
Post Date: 2009-11-09 18:09:22 by christine
Keywords: None
Views: 2066
Comments: 29
Given that the massive health care reform bill just passed by the House was one of the largest pieces of legislation in U.S. history, you might wonder why you didn’t get to vote on it. When it comes to federal legislation, your vote doesn’t count in America, didn’t you know? You are dictated to by a small band of the political elite who may or may not represent your interests (or even the interests of your fellow citizens). Those people are called members of Congress. And as you’ll read here, they are essentially obsolete. Society no longer has any need for them. Here’s why… Why Congress was created Consider why the U.S. Congress was created in the first place: Back in the 1700s, there was no internet. There weren’t even telephones. Heck, this was pre-telegraph! Long-distance communication was simply impossible, so the people had a very practical need to send a representative to Washington to represent their wishes on the legislative front. And so the idea of the U.S. Congress was born. Senators and Congresspeople would be representatives of the People from their home states and districts, and they would vote according to the wishes, desires and best interests of the people back home. They would essentially be proxy voters. Sounds good in theory, right? Fast forward 230 years or so… Now, instant communication is available to almost everyone. A new law being proposed in Washington could be instantly read — and voted on — by the People all across America. The internet has made the whole purpose behind the U.S. Congress obsolete… irrelevant. Why do Americans need someone else to represent them when we can all just read and vote on the bills ourselves? In an age of instant communications, Congress is no longer needed. But of course, the current members of Congress would heartily disagree with that assessment. If there’s one rule about power, it’s that those in power always seek more power. And because only members of Congress can vote federal laws into existence — not the actual citizens of the country — they hold a tremendous amount of concentrated power… and they’re not about to let it go. Corporations love the current system, too, because they can simply bypass the People and lobby Congress to pass the laws that favor their own interests. This is how the U.S. Congress has become a legislative auction house where new laws are passed to appease whoever raises more money for reelection campaigns. Meanwhile, the People have been abandoned in this equation, and the interests of the People that were supposed to be “represented” in Washington have been long forgotten. Did you realize that 237 members of Congress are millionaires? (http://www.politico.com/news/storie…) And seven of them have a net worth greater than $100 million. When lawmakers are rolling in that kind of cash, how can they possibly represent the interests of the People, of which 99% earn far less? Further demonstrating detachment from the people they claim to represent, one new Congressman — just sworn in yesterday — managed to break four campaign promises in his first hour of office (http://www.gouverneurtimes.com/inde…). It’s time for Direct Democracy In a Direct Democracy, the People directly participate in the debate and passage of new laws. All laws are publicly published for debate and discussion — unlike the current situation where 1,000-page laws like the Patriot Act or the new health care reform bill are covertly written, then often deposited in the federal register just minutes before a scheduled vote. Today, we have a system of “ambush lawmaking” going on in Congress where even the members of Congress voting on the laws have little time to read the bills (much less understand them). In a Direct Democracy, however, all proposed laws are posted publicly so that the People can read them, debate them and vote on them. After all, if the whole point of the U.S. Congress was to represent the votes of the People, in an age where people can now vote directly thanks to internet technology, shouldn’t the U.S. Congress step aside and just let the People vote for themseles? How to disband Congress and give power back to the People Disbanding the U.S. Congress would, of course, require a Constitutional amendment. That is extremely unlikely to happen, given that such an amendment requires an approval of the majority of U.S. states (and existing members of Congress happen to be quite influential in their home states). So to disband Congress, you’d have to convince hundreds of power-hungry people to vote themselves out of power. The odds against that happening are astronomical. The other option is to just wait for the current U.S. system to collapse, and then replace it with a form of Direct Democracy that makes more sense. This is the more likely scenario, and it may be closer than you think: The financial blowout of America is well under way, and it’s only a matter of time before unbridled debt spending leads to runaway inflation and the disastrous demise of the dollar. The passage of the $1 trillion health care bill, in fact, will accelerate America towards financial collapse. Within a few short years, there may be an opportunity to “reboot America” and create a smarter society to replace the corrupt, outmoded system of government that’s failing the American people right now. I support the idea of a Direct Democracy that eliminates the entire U.S. Congress. Of course, there would need to be some sort of process for deciding which proposed laws get put on the public website for discussion and voting, but even that process can be crowdsourced to some degree. It’s time to decentralize power in Washington and distribute it back to the People. In one sense, it’s the most politically progressive idea yet proposed, but at the same time, it’s also about preserving personal freedom, liberty and responsibility. So it appeals both to progressives and conservatives (Libertarians, too). The point is, it’s time to give back to the American people the power they once granted to their representatives out of practical necessity. Besides, the People can do a far better job debating and voting on proposed laws than the U.S. Congress ever did. Many of the comments I’ve read about the health care bill on discussions boards are far more intelligent than the debate that took place in the House. The People deserve the right to directly vote on laws that deeply impact their lives and finances. After all, if the United States is supposed to be a government of the People, by the People and for the People, then why not let the laws be directly voted on by the People? We the People don’t need Senators and Congresspeople to make our decisions for us. What we need is the freedom to vote for ourselves. If we continue to allow Congress to make our decisions for us, they will drive America into the dirt, leaving us all penniless, diseased and neck-deep in debt. (Actually, we’re sort of there already…) Congress promises freedom but delivers financial slavery. It promises to take care of us but then it sells us out to the corporations. Congress puts the corporations first and the people last, and it’s time to advance to a better form of Democracy where individual participation in our democratic lawmaking process is the norm. Now, I know what the main critics of this idea will say: “The People aren’t qualified to vote on legislation!” It’s a fair question. But I answer, “Are the members of Congress any better qualified?” I’m willing to bet that not 1 out of 5 members of Congress can even cite the Bill of Rights ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United…). They are nutritionally illiterate. They almost universally have little or no knowledge of the banking system or how the Federal Reserve really works. How are they any more qualified to vote on health care than you or I? Truth is, they aren’t. The hard-working, tax-paying people of the United States of America could do a much better job voting on legislative bills than members of Congress. Congress has become a big part of what’s wrong with America today. Disbanding Congress and invoking a Direct Democracy might be the only remaining way to save America from destruction at the hands of greedy corporations, powerful lobbyists and contemptible Congresspeople.
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#1. To: christine (#0)
No.
Not just NO!, but F-U-C-K N-O !!!
Benjamin Franklin He also said something about 'wolves', 'sheep' and 'liberty' IIRC...ehehe
Benjamin Franklin He also said something about 'wolves', 'sheep' and 'liberty' IIRC...ehehe The problem we face is that there is a missing element in the Constitution - a means for the citizenry to enforce the Constitution upon the government short of outright revolution. As well the "Commerce Clause" has been perverted all out of its original intent and meaning which was to prevent trade wars between States.
"An education isn't how much you have committed to memory, or even how much you know. It's being able to differentiate between what you know and what you don't. ~ Anatole France
Not no, but HELL NO! Democracy is nothing more than the tyranny of the ill informed majority over the informed minority. The Founding Fathers looked at "democracy" and discarded it out of hand as it is a system which is inherently unstable and does not protect the RIGHTS of the minority. Governance under "democracy" is nothing more, or less, than rule by herd mentality. No democracy in history as lasted more than a few generations because it degenerates into chaos and injustice visited upon those in the minority. A Republic with a stout and soundly written enforceable Constitution is the best which we have yet envisioned. That our current Republic falls short is not that the Republican form is unworkable but that our Constitution lacks an open enforcement mechanism to restrain the Congress.
"An education isn't how much you have committed to memory, or even how much you know. It's being able to differentiate between what you know and what you don't. ~ Anatole France
If there was a direct democracy, we would have had socialized medicine a long time ago. Mike Adams left the US sometime ago. He should leave decisions like this to those of us who have stayed.
Quite correct. However, there is good seed idea here of an update to the PROCESS of running the Republic: faster feedback, including quick recall of non-responsive representatives! Building on an idea proposed by the great Buckminster Fuller, phone voting on referendums, and leveraging the technology available to enable instant voting via anonymous secure Internet connection, my idea goes like this: [This proposal assumes that we have broken the Oligarchy of corporate/government collusion, have sound money, removed all Bill of Rights protection from non-living corporations and the media-Matrix is broken, paid lobbyists are outlawed, the House representation is re-apportioned to mirror the population, as the Constitution stipulated but which has not been done for many years, based on the original purpose of the census, so that we can conduct this experiment in a free market of ideas. In other words, this is a clean sheet proposal, assuming that we have passed through the fire and are rebuilding, building upon the good foundation we were given 200 years ago and modernizing the process to handle the dynamic needs of vibrant growing future civilization. We start by repealing the vast majority of legislation enacted in the 20th century and institute the mandate to periodically renew ALL legislation, else it expires, dies and lives no more! Only legislative law that is really functional and important will live on, because it requires regular re- certification to persist. By the way, another major rule change that informs this feedback process: only ONE legislative focus per bill. NO MORE shotgun bills that muddy the will of the people and enable deal-making and BAD LAW. One clearly stated law ber bill, PERIOD!] Keep (return to) paper trail elections, where you have to get off your duff to elect your representative. That representative's new role is: present information to the populace for weekly (monthly/yearly) referendums. No direct voting, no unmitigated mob rule because the actual votes on legislation are still cast by those elected representatives. The new breed of politician must a be an educator, an explicator who still votes his conscience, but with one important difference: If our representative votes against the will of his constituents on a particular bill, as expressed in the weekly referendums, more than X number of times, he is impeached with mininal formality, to be succeeded by the person who received the next highest number of paper votes in the election. To the objection that people don't care to be informed and vote electonically in the referendums (one on EVERY piece of legislation to be voted upon), I say that once people can see that their vote in the referendum DIRECTLY impacts their representative's vote OR ELSE, watching C-SPAN will be more engaging and educational than watching "So you think you can dance?"! Another side effect: if ain't broke, don't fix it! LESS legislation! LESS legislation! LESS legislation! LESS legislation! LESS legislation1 More fine tuning of those legislative laws that persist. (see above) So, the skills of the representatives will shift from lying in service of oligarchic masters to presenting the best case for their vote, to explaining the issues, bringing light upon the big picture and citing principles from the Constitution and common law in order to hold back the spikes of popular mob will. Instead of the skillset of high-school debating, which most existing politicians even lack these days, and rabble rousing in the caustic TV talking pundit style, the true leaders, those who can explain in a balanced, even- handed, inclusive manner, the merits of the proposed legislation will continue to be re-elected. Leaders who know how to appeal to peole's higher natures, not pander to their fears and base instincts, would rise to serve, because their motivation is not to lie to the public while serving the oligarchy, but to explicate and educate, to set an example of reasoning and knowledge. The limits to any move by the masses to vote themselves handouts is the Constitution and good sense, presented without filtering through the oligarchically controlled media-Matrix. PLUS the fact that when the economic powerhouse of free enterprise is again allowed to function unfettered, within a clear structure of minimal law, once again merit and the feedback of intelligent choices can make the way to individual prosperity clear to all. Small, minimal government that MUST respond to the will of the people, WITHIN the bounds of the COnstitution and Bill of Rights, fine tuned by direct public participation and its consequent education. This is just a sketch of course. We have the damping of the popular sentiment by the structure of a Republic of Constitutional law, made as agile as a Ferrari by adding in weekly (or monthly) direct public participation through referendum. When we can see that we DO have an effect, then we participate. In addition to the air time that the elected representatives get, to present the merits/demerits of particular legislation, there will be air time, internet bandwidth for the people to stand up in cyperspace, on offical channels, such as a C-CPAN utube-like web site, to provide direct insight and reasoning from the wise and courageous among us. The elected representatives will have to compete fairly in the marketplace of ideas because a SonOfLiberty or an Original_Intent's utube presentation could MAKE MINCE MEAT out of poor arguments and sway the referendum numbers away from their proposed vote. Remember, the representatives are still free to and obligated to vote on the bills, BUT, if they vote against their constituents three times (or whatever), they are subject to IMMEDIATE recall. To stay and play, they must do their best to raise consciousness among their constituents, in order that the public referendum stay aligned with their vote, which will presumably be in the service of the greater good since the bribe incentive will have been removed. There must be some damping mechanism, some due process for recall of an out of sync representative (by which I include both House and Senate) but the feedback loop is there, providing incentive to tell the truth better, not to lie better. The foundation of this proposal (or outline of one) is a view of human nature that has almost been outlawed in the pursuit of a pussified population: Individual sovereignty, self-determination, individual responsibility, cooperating under minimal interference within a system of laws that everyone can understand. That on a free level playing field, people acting in their own self-interests, enlightened by the instant feedback of global communications, will co-create a world where all can share in the creation and enjoyment of wealth. Where none of that wealth is extorted by special interests, used to suppress invention and innovation and turned against the general populace in the form of institutionalized highway robbery and indentured servitude. This is the dream of freedom and the true sustainable wealth it can create as soon as it is allowed to breathe freely. This is one of the dreams that will displace our collective nightmare, within this lifetime, when we awaken.
Bullshit, wadr. There is NO form of 'direct democracy' that is acceptable. You took O_I's brilliant post, adopted it to fit your needs, and pissed all over it...your brief appearance here to coopt a patriot-genius is deplorable.
No politician worth his salt would ever enable the electorate to recall him for underperforming.
_________________________________________________________________________ Step Zero is to defang the Oligarchy. No other plan can proceed without that step first having been accomplished. Given my preference for simplicity, complete accountability, and transparency the main changes I would propose are few but sweeping: 1. The establishment of a co-equal fourth branch of government whose sole function is to oversee the operation of the other 3 and to ensure that their actions are in compliance with the written Constitution. It would have as part of its authority the ability to nullify any law passed which does not comply with the written constitution. Any bill passed may be referred for review by any Congressmember or Registered Voter. The Bill would then have to receive review before being enacted into law. Such review would be based solely upon its compliance with the written constitution. 2. Provision for direct citizen challenges of the Constitutionality of a Bill or Executive Action, which if sustained are fully and completely legally enforceable and that such enforcement is required. 3. The requirement for complete transparency in all elections and that the only legal form of Ballot is a hand marked paper ballot which is then hand counted under the eyes of an independent observer to verify the legitimacy of the count. Counting to be done at the level of the precinct and the talliers and observers are to be selected randomly from among the residents of the that precinct. 4. No candidate for office may accept campaign donations from any source whatsoever outside of the district for which the election is held. No campaign for or against a referendum in any form may accept donations from any source whatsoever outside of the district in which the referendum is being voted on. 5. Any Congressperson convicted of any act of corruption shall be forbidden for life from running for or serving in any elected position of public trust. This is in addition to any other legal penalties which may apply. Any Congressman knowingly proposing a law or bill in violation of the written Constitution shall be removed from office and forbade again running for or serving in any elected position in any level of government State, Local, and Federal, and any pension accrued from service in the Congress shall be forfeit. The President of the United States knowingly signing a law which contravenes the written Constitution shall upon validated challenge by any citizen or Congress member be automatically referred for Impeachment and upon conviction in the Senate shall be forever forbade serving in any elective office at any level of government for life. Any Pension accrued while serving in the office shall be forfeit. 6. No direct tax may in any form be levied by the Federal Government upon the individual citizens. Any additional levies for emergency funds must be enacted by the several States. Congress may, in time of national emergency when enacted into law by three fourths of both the House and Senate compel the States to comply with the levy which shall be apportioned by State population. The means of raising the levied funds would be determined by the Several States. The traditional means of indirect taxation would remain as written in the original Constitution. 7. Only individual corporeal citizens have the rights of citizens. No Corporation shall be granted any aspect thereof. The officers of a Corporation, just as the officers of a ship, are personally liable for the actions of a Corporation. Individuals employed by a corporation are personally liable for any personal infraction of the law. 8. The legal principle of "Stare Decisis" shall not apply in any case involving a challenge to the Constitutionality of any bill or act. The sole and only arbiter is reference to the written constitution. The use of "Stare Decisis" to resolve constitutional issues is expressly forbidden as it enters in elements which are not in the written constitution. 9. The Executive is expressly forbidden from issuing "Executive Orders" affecting the citizens of the United States. Executive Orders are limited in authority only to agencies and individuals serving in the Executive Branch of government. No executive order may be used at any time as grounds for depriving any citizen of life, liberty, or property. Only those laws duly enacted by Congress and signed into law by the President may be used as legal basis for depriving any citizen of life, liberty, or property. I would suggest a few other things such as clarifying the "Commerce Clause" through which great mischief has been justified to specifically its original intent which was to prevent trade wars between the States. As well adding additional fangs to the right to keep and bear arms specifying that there should be no doubt that it guarantees the individual the right to keep and bear arms.
"An education isn't how much you have committed to memory, or even how much you know. It's being able to differentiate between what you know and what you don't. ~ Anatole France
There is NO form of 'direct democracy' that is acceptable. You took O_I's brilliant post, adopted it to fit your needs, and pissed all over it...your brief appearance here to coopt a patriot-genius is deplorable. Huh? Who is wadr? If you are addressing me, my post was an off-the-cuff brainstorm for purposes of discussion, which emphasized *keeping* the Republic and making it faster to respond, and to encourage more participation. Feel free to disagree with the details of the idea but the crude misconstrual of the intent behind it, as shown in your reply, certainly is effective in shutting down civil discourse, if that was your intent. In case it was not clear from the post, I am NOT in favor of direct democracy, as my reply in agreement with O_I (who I certainly agree IS brilliant) clearly states. My idea was an attempt to increase citizen participation in guiding the direction of the Republic, by providing a way to directly inform our representatives in the House and Senate with citizen opinion, a formal mechanism better than calls and letters that can easily be ignored, a viable way to throw the bastards out if they serve only special interests, nothing more. At this critical time in our country, wouldn't it be great to be able to quickly impeach the current crew of liars by demonstrating that their votes are out of line with their lies and campaign promises? By being able to cite a publicly documented referendum and an entire body of public comment stored in text and video form on a public website, the process of taking the power away from naughty politicians, OUR power delegated temporarily to them in trust, would be made practical and thus actually be exercised more often when needed. Or are you secretly a Hamiltonian elitist, content with the status quo, where the elite believe that only *they* are fit to run the nursery? It is the trend for good citizens to allow the professional liars (politicians) and lobbyists (but I repeat myself) to run things their way, in the dark, with cover from the MSM, that has run the Republic into the ground by passing all the treasonous bills, such as the Federal Reserve Act and the Traitor Act (patriot) etc, etc, and eroded the foundation of our Republic to the state we are now in. While the citizens were trained to vote for one of two sock puppets put forth by the oligarchy and then go forth minding only their own business, the legal foundations and legitimate processes of our Republic have been dismantled, piece by piece. If I appeared to diss someone you admire, it was not my intention, as no one holds O_I in higher esteem than I. I trust his discernment enough to discuss details with him in good faith. However, I do not allow myself to follow the pattern of mental laziness rampant among the sleeping masses, that of identifying and labelling some people as heroic idols and others as villains, in order to avoid responsibility for further critical thinking. This laziness is a pattern, demonstrated even here with depressing regularity, of aligning mindlessly with some chosen few labelled good, and dismissing just as mindlessly, those labelled bad. Those labelled good are listened to and followed reflexively, like cheering on the sports team that is "yours", that is, until they sin, for example by not painting a target on their heads by coming out and saying that 911 was an inside job (which it was, of course), as many non-thinkers do with Dr Paul and others. The illogic goes like this: X is the only valid litmus test of true patriotism; since this person does not match expectations by saying or doing X, therefore X must be co-opted by the power structure and they can no longer be allowed among the select group of persons-as-symbols worthy of uncritical allegience. Funny but sad.... With the sleep-walkers, deluding themselves that they are in the know but the rest of the sleep-walking masses are not, they must check off every point in their collection of talking points, assembled like a shopping list from other people's thoughts, or their idol must be discarded, all or nothing, from the cast of their heroic pantheon. In other words, back to simple, black and white thinking and since very few real people measure up on all of the points required for their wholesale, uncritical approval, the sleep-walkers are free to despair, free to bitch about others, free to express emotional heat without light, free to remain blind.... Thank you for revealing the level of your thinking process and your reading comprehension; in the future, I will refrain from disturbing your sleep. Have a nice day!
Excellent post! Your ideas are to the point and very well thought out, in contrast to mine. If my spontaneous brainstorming in public did nothing more than provide a stimulus to bring forth your brilliant response, it was worth being misunderstood. Thanks for the reply.
At this critical time in our country, wouldn't it be great to be able to quickly impeach the current crew of liars by demonstrating that their votes are out of line with their lies and campaign promises? this is how i perceived your ideas and, for that matter, also what i believe was Mike Adam's intent though Direct Democracy is not the way--a return to a truly Representative Republic and states sovereignty is.
Thank you Christine. 8=)
I always felt that hanging was an example of direct democracy.......works well for all but the one with the rope around their neck. Conformity rules and those who don't conform are simply snuffed until all voices in opposition are mute in the name of "public good" and diversity.
The DD Movement is insidious and very real...
bump
not a good idea at all they have direct democracy in Floriduh and the voters there bypassed the legislators and altered the state constitution to give constitutional rights to pigs (the 4 legged kind)
http://www.moola.com:80/moopubs/b2b/exc/join.jsp?sid=4d6a55744e5451354e7a673d-2
ping
http://www.moola.com:80/moopubs/b2b/exc/join.jsp?sid=4d6a55744e5451354e7a673d-2
There is NO form of 'direct democracy' that is acceptable. You took O_I's brilliant post, adopted it to fit your needs, and pissed all over it...your brief appearance here to coopt a patriot-genius is deplorable. Huh? Who is wadr? If you are addressing me, my post was an off-the-cuff brainstorm for purposes of discussion, which emphasized *keeping* the Republic and making it faster to respond, and to encourage more participation. Feel free to disagree with the details of the idea but the crude misconstrual of the intent behind it, as shown in your reply, certainly is effective in shutting down civil discourse, if that was your intent. Don't feel put-off Rotara is a fervent patriot but sometimes given to shooting first and asking questions later. ;-) My preference is to ask questions before shooting, and thanks for the kind words as well. Brainstorming is good for the brain so don't let it bother you to get shot at. We learn by playing with ideas, examining them, looking at all the facets and just observing what IS there. Observing the obvious, or "obnosis", is a developed skill and not everyone does it - unfortunately. However, don't worry about being shot at. I've been shot at so many times that I've lost count. Not always without justification - there were a few times when I first began posting on forums where I shot at someone else and then later had to eat the words. I've learned not to be quite so cantankerous. ;-) I do agree with Rotara on the point that most forms of direct democracy are not workable. If for no other reason than too many people don't pause to think and look at the side consequences to an action i.e., that the side effects might be worse than the original problem. Any problem to be solved must be understood. You have to get the correct "why" for the problem or your solution will not solve the problem. So the question in looking at our current political mix is how did it become that a small elite was able to subvert and take over our government? What conditions allowed that to happen? These are not trivial questions but a full answer to them also allows us to look at and undertand the true nature of the problem and from that flows what actions must be taken and what safeguards must be installed to prevent a recurrence. In my earlier post I addressed some of it. The key problems boil down to: There is currently no means to enforce the Constitution on the central government, by the citizenry, short of rebellion. There is no corrective mechanism within the governmental structure which allows for effective oversight and correction when the government steps out of bounds. Illegal amendments to the Constitution have been installed and enforced i.e., the 16th and 17th amendments which have disrupted the checks and balances and thus allowed the exercise of unwarranted and unconstitutional power and thus corruption of original intent. This suggests that there is need for a formal mechanism to certify that an amendment has been passed in full accord with the constitution and to prevent illegal amendments from being enforced. Attempts to subvert this mechanism should be dealt with savagely. The use of court rulings, Stare Decisis again, to supercede the written authority i.e., the Constitution. A lack of transparency. Persons in the government have been allowed to classify and hold secret their own individual criminal acts, under the false color of "National Security" and prevent their coming to the light of day. This suggests the need for a means to compel FULL disclosure to public view any deliberations or actions of the government in any form, venue, or means. Again, violations must be dealt with savagely. People have been too squeamish in enforcing punishments upon malefactors. The why for that lies in another province - the nature of the mind and spirit. The basic problems are really quite few and easily corrected, but that first requires fumigating the government.
"An education isn't how much you have committed to memory, or even how much you know. It's being able to differentiate between what you know and what you don't. ~ Anatole France
we're at this critical stage because the 10th amendment has basically been rendered null and void. states rights are gone and with that the individual rights of the people.
And a large part of that was the evisceration done by the 17th Amendment, which was never legally ratified, which took selection of Senators from the legislatures and made it a matter of "popular" head count. As well corruption of the Supreme Court and no means to directly take them to account could be cited as well.
"An education isn't how much you have committed to memory, or even how much you know. It's being able to differentiate between what you know and what you don't. ~ Anatole France
Please go to -www.constitutionparty.com
The Founding Fathers looked at "democracy" and discarded it out of hand as it is a system which is inherently unstable and does not protect the RIGHTS of the minority. How do the Swiss handle their democracy? They should have collapsed by now. Maybe it's because most of them have been in the military and are heavily armed. The term, "an armed society is a polite society", may apply.
And a huge, Amen.
And a huge, Amen. How does that apply to Afghanistan?
An almost stone age country is kicking the most technologically advanced country in the world's ass. Because they are armed, and they are defending their home with the weapons that they have at hand. Your question is non-sensical.
Agreed; but does that make them polite?
The Founding Fathers looked at "democracy" and discarded it out of hand as it is a system which is inherently unstable and does not protect the RIGHTS of the minority. How do the Swiss handle their democracy? They should have collapsed by now. Maybe it's because most of them have been in the military and are heavily armed. The term, "an armed society is a polite society", may apply. The arrangement is a little different. The Cantons, their equivalent of States, are semi-autonomous much like the U.S. was under the Articles of Confederation. As well the Bankers have had a big say in how the country is run and although it is a "Democracy" it really is not a pure democracy. As well there is a strong tradition of individual autonomy because as a small, historicaly neutral, country they have maintained their independence simply by being too dangerous to mess with for the gain to be had.
"An education isn't how much you have committed to memory, or even how much you know. It's being able to differentiate between what you know and what you don't. ~ Anatole France
#2. To: Patriot Henry (#1)
"If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your counsel nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.”—Samuel Adams 
#3. To: Original_Intent, All (#2)
"A nation of well informed men who have been taught to know and prize the rights which God has given them cannot be enslaved. It is in the region of ignorance that tyranny begins."
"If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your counsel nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.”—Samuel Adams
#4. To: Rotara (#3)
"A nation of well informed men who have been taught to know and prize the rights which God has given them cannot be enslaved. It is in the region of ignorance that tyranny begins."
"Democracy is two wolves and sheep voting on what is for dinner. Liberty is a well armed sheep contesting the vote." ~ Benjamin Franklin
#5. To: christine (#0)
The other option is to just wait for the current U.S. system to collapse, and then replace it with a form of Direct Democracy that makes more sense.
#6. To: christine (#0)
(Edited)
#7. To: Original_Intent, Christine, SonofLiberty, Jethro Tull, HOUNDDAWG, TwentyTwelve, X-15, James Deffenbach, gengis gandhi, IndieTX, Horse, noone222, randge, scrapper2, Rotara, RickyJ (#5)
(Edited)
A Republic with a stout and soundly written enforceable Constitution is the best which we have yet envisioned. That our current Republic falls short is not that the Republican form is unworkable but that our Constitution lacks an open enforcement mechanism to restrain the Congress.
Anger? as a first reaction to get your a$$ moving, once you see through the Media Matrix and set yourself free from your lifelong mind control collar. Sustainable? not enough to screen your intention to be free from the Talosians, who can’t read primitive emotions but know what you watch on cable/sat, read on the Internet and eat. Our ultimate weapon is laughter and amused detachment at the folly of the would-be emperors. Fear mongers HATE it when that card doesn’t work. The humiliation of being seen as merely a naked ape is THEIR big fear. Laugh the bastards off the stage! Tell your friends that we can build a real civilization from the ashes of the totalitarian game!
#8. To: HighLairEon, Original_Intent (#7)
Building on an idea proposed by the great Buckminster Fuller, phone voting on referendums, and leveraging the technology available to enable instant voting via anonymous secure Internet connection, my idea goes like this:
"If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your counsel nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.”—Samuel Adams
#9. To: HighLairEon (#7)
However, there is good seed idea here of an update to the PROCESS of running the Republic: faster feedback, including quick recall of non-responsive representatives!
"This man is Jesus,” shouted one man, spilling his Guinness as Barack Obama began his inaugural address. “When will he come to Kenya to save us?”
-Schweizerische Schuetzenzeitung (Swiss Shooting Federation) April, 1941
#10. To: HighLairEon, Rotara (#7)
[This proposal assumes that we have broken the Oligarchy of corporate/government collusion, have sound money, removed all Bill of Rights protection from non-living corporations and the media-Matrix is broken, paid lobbyists are outlawed, the House representation is re-apportioned to mirror the population, as the Constitution stipulated but which has not been done for many years, based on the original purpose of the census, so that we can conduct this experiment in a free market of ideas.
#11. To: Rotara, Original_Intent (#8)
(Edited)
Bullshit, wadr.
Anger? as a first reaction to get your a$$ moving, once you see through the Media Matrix and set yourself free from your lifelong mind control collar. Sustainable? not enough to screen your intention to be free from the Talosians, who can’t read primitive emotions but know what you watch on cable/sat, read on the Internet and eat. Our ultimate weapon is laughter and amused detachment at the folly of the would-be emperors. Fear mongers HATE it when that card doesn’t work. The humiliation of being seen as merely a naked ape is THEIR big fear. Laugh the bastards off the stage! Tell your friends that we can build a real civilization from the ashes of the totalitarian game!
#12. To: Original_Intent (#10)
Anger? as a first reaction to get your a$$ moving, once you see through the Media Matrix and set yourself free from your lifelong mind control collar. Sustainable? not enough to screen your intention to be free from the Talosians, who can’t read primitive emotions but know what you watch on cable/sat, read on the Internet and eat. Our ultimate weapon is laughter and amused detachment at the folly of the would-be emperors. Fear mongers HATE it when that card doesn’t work. The humiliation of being seen as merely a naked ape is THEIR big fear. Laugh the bastards off the stage! Tell your friends that we can build a real civilization from the ashes of the totalitarian game!
#13. To: HighLairEon, Rotara, Original_Intent, Patrick Henry, ratcat, All (#11)
My idea was an attempt to increase citizen participation in guiding the direction of the Republic, by providing a way to directly inform our representatives in the House and Senate with citizen opinion, a formal mechanism better than calls and letters that can easily be ignored, a viable way to throw the bastards out if they serve only special interests, nothing more.
#14. To: christine (#13)
this is how i perceived your ideas and, for that matter, also what i believe was Mike Adam's intent though Direct Democracy is not the way--a return to a truly Representative Republic and states sovereignty is.
Anger? as a first reaction to get your a$$ moving, once you see through the Media Matrix and set yourself free from your lifelong mind control collar. Sustainable? not enough to screen your intention to be free from the Talosians, who can’t read primitive emotions but know what you watch on cable/sat, read on the Internet and eat. Our ultimate weapon is laughter and amused detachment at the folly of the would-be emperors. Fear mongers HATE it when that card doesn’t work. The humiliation of being seen as merely a naked ape is THEIR big fear. Laugh the bastards off the stage! Tell your friends that we can build a real civilization from the ashes of the totalitarian game!
#15. To: christine (#0)
Direct Democracy — Why the American People must disband
#16. To: christine (#13)
"If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your counsel nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.”—Samuel Adams
#17. To: abraxas (#15)
good point
"If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your counsel nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.”—Samuel Adams
#18. To: christine (#0)
(Edited)
#19. To: christine, *libertarians* (#0)
#20. To: HighLairEon, Rotara (#11)
Bullshit, wadr.
#21. To: Rotara, Original_Intent (#17)
#22. To: christine, Rotara (#21)
#23. To: Original_Intent (#22)
#24. To: Original_Intent (#5)
Democracy is nothing more than the tyranny of the ill informed majority over the informed minority.
#25. To: PaulCJ (#24)
The term, "an armed society is a polite society", may apply.
#26. To: Lod (#25)
The term, "an armed society is a polite society", may apply.
#27. To: lucysmom (#26)
#28. To: Lod (#27)
Because they are armed, and they are defending their home with the weapons that they have at hand.
#29. To: PaulCJ (#24)
Democracy is nothing more than the tyranny of the ill informed majority over the informed minority.
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