 Wisco says: "What occurred in the last eight years was an assault on who we are," Turley said. "I think that President-elect Obama's going to have to decide whether he wants power without principle or whether he wants to start with a true change, to say that no matter where an investigation will take us, if there are crimes to be found they will be prosecuted." Personally, I vote for the latter. The neocons came up with a lot of creative legal arguments to excuse torture and we ought to make them test those arguments in a criminal court. I think they'd find that their arguments were BS and that they are, quite literally, criminals. I also think that we ought to make it 100% clear that working in the White House isn't a free pass to commit war crimes. We're a nation of laws, not men, and those who break the law should have to answer to the law -- no matter who they are. That's what you call "justice." I agree. As long as high-ups can get away with crimes, we are a dictatorship, not a democracy. Interesting clip. We are just going to have to be patient and wait and see what materializes in the future when Obama takes office and his administration is set up and running. For sure nothing is going to happen quickly as we would probably all like to see. Time will tell! As much as I desperately want justice for all of the crimes these clowns have committed, I fear it may be too little too late. Even at that, the history books need to reflect the fact that justice ultimately prevailed and was served by the punishment of the guilty. In my mind a slow painful death would be light punishment for the despicable actions of these so-called-men who are actually traitorous snakes. The old National Lampoon Radio hour did a bit where people "called in" to answer the question "What should we do to Nixon?" My favorite answers: Caller: "Bury him up to his neck in the sand and put red ants in his ears and nostrils." Caller: "Berl 'em in earl!" Host: "Oh, from Brooklyn, huh?" Actually Masbury, what we seem to be IS a Democracy. What we are SUPPOSED to be is a Republic. ie "... and to the Republic, for which it stands..." A Democracy The chief characteristic and distinguishing feature of a Democracy is: Rule by Omnipotent Majority. In a Democracy, The Individual, and any group of Individuals composing any Minority, have no protection against the unlimited power of The Majority. It is a case of Majority-over-Man. A Republic A Republic, on the other hand, has a very different purpose and an entirely different form, or system, of government. Its purpose is to control The Majority strictly, as well as all others among the people, primarily to protect The Individua... Wrong, wrong and wrong since a Republican form of goverment is a form of Democracy. Why do some people have problems with basic definitions? ok then, how about this... # Democratic Republic - Tends to be used by countries who have a particular desire to emphasize their claim to be democratic; these are typically Communist states and/or ex-colonies. Examples include the German Democratic Republic (no longer in existence) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. # Constitutional republic - A constitutional republic is a state where the head of state and other officials are elected as representatives of the people and must govern according to existing constitutional law that limits the government's power over citizens. In a constitutional republic, executive, legislative, and judicial powers are separated into distinct branches s... this as well... In contemporary usage, the term democracy refers to a government chosen by the people, whether it is direct or representative.[63] The term republic has many different meanings, but today often refers to a representative democracy with an elected head of state, such as a president, serving for a limited term, in contrast to states with a hereditary monarch as a head of state, even if these states also are representative democracies with an elected or appointed head of government such as a prime minister.[64] The Founding Fathers of the United States rarely praised and often criticized democracy, which in their time tended to specifically mean direct democracy; James Madison... Actually Masbury, what we seem to be IS a Democracy. What we are SUPPOSED to be is a Republic. ie "... and to the Republic, for which it stands..."For the record, the Pledge of freakin' Allegiance has jack to do with anything. It wasn't written by the founders and it's not law. It's just some chant used to indoctrinate school kids. I am so tired of seeing this "not a democracy" bullshit. Where the hell did this come from? Democracy is a system, a republic is a structure. They aren't mutually exclusive. This is like saying, "That's not a building, that's a fire station." OK Wisco, let me lay this out for you... A democracy is a form of government in which the people decide policy matters directly--through town hall meetings or by voting on ballot initiatives and referendums A republic is a system in which the people choose representatives who, in turn, make policy decisions on their behalf. We have local democracy to a very small degree (ie when you vote on whether to enact a local sales tax or fund a park) but our governing body is a republic. Wisco, have you voted lately on every bill, tax, budget, law etc. ad nauseam, that your local, state and national government enacts. Because if you haven't, then you sir, live in a republic. Other wise you live in a republic just like the rest of us. It's not a greek democracy, so it's not a democracy at all. By that same "logic," it's not a roman republic, so it's not a republic at all. That whole bicameral thing and a system of courts screws it all up. If we restrict ourselves to classical definitions, the United States is indefinable. So we don't. The United States is a modern Democracy, not a classical Democracy. If you vote and it counts for something, you've got democracy -- it's really that simple. A republic is a government with a lawmaking body -- at least, in the modern sense. Golly, guess what? We're a republic too! Eek! How freakin' confusing! |
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