A Democracy or Republic? Informative link!

[Redtail1949]

Very Interesting Film:

http://www.wimp.com/thegovernment/

[SHOOTALL]

12 grade gov. class , shame they don't get it anymore .

[Redtail1949]

yep...it does one good to be reminded of what it is all about. the last few minutes sure make one think that the present amrica is headed the way of ancient rome.

[teamnelson]

Excellent link, thanks for posting!

I was asked to give a brief on history of American Ethics/Morals to a group of Marines. I received a lot of complaints because I cited slave owners (our founding fathers), and I didn't quote any women or people of color. Our high schools are teaching democracy, not a republic.

[Redtail1949]

i have been watching msnbc and after many months of watching ..it permeates out of them ..they want a democracy and they even spit all over themselves talking nonsense about "OUR DEMOCRACY".

they do not even understand what our nation is.

even mor telling is their threats to go to reconcilliation to get what they want. that little minute detail of republic verses democracy is quite a nusiance to them.

today chris matthews was all beside himself screaming about how ..They were the majority and its about time the Democrats realized they can do what ever they want. kinda easy to see where we would be if that little detail was not there.

now that its getting in their head that obama and the leftist or gonna lose  now i look for violence to erupt from the socialist communist far left..

[sagegrouse715]

This video correctly states our nation's roots are as a republic.  However, in an attempt to spin its viewpoint much is unstated.  It doesn't state that during the writing of the Constitution  that the only people who had a voice in the process were wealthy,land owning, white men.  Women were excluded, black slaves were excluded, and the poor were excluded from the political process.  Thanks to Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln, and Woodrow Wilson we moved toward giving every citizen a voice in government.  Which of us want to volunteer to give up our vote so we can go back to being a republic where only a select minority get to have a voice in government?  Should only liberals get to vote?  Or only liberatarians?  Or only naturalized citizens? 

In the Roman republic, only the patricians ( wealthy, landowners) could be elected to the ruling senate.  And it was the Republic that turned Rome into a permanent dicatatorship under the rule of Julius Caesar.  Remember the USSR was a republic too when someone idolizes that concept.  I am glad I have a voice in our government and do not want to see it taken from me

[Redtail1949]

well we started as a republic and we are still a republic.

it was not perfect then nor now. it took along time to address many of the problems such as slavery and the rights of black and women to vote. you might its still a work in progress.

yet, even though its not perfect it simply is the best form of government ever implemented on the face of this earth.

[slim rem 7]

i don t agree with you 715 but won t try an bring you to my line of thinking..
why because you have the right to your opinion ..its protected by law..
 now as to the piece we watched.. much wisdome there..
   but im afraid we ve progressed to the point that the ones in control now,want total controll ..
they want to take away my right to express my opinion.. so ive got arms ..
 so that if necessary i can protect my love ones,my constitutional rights ..should it come dn to it..
 i fear that is coming much sooner than the unknowing public is aware ..jmo and i ll fight for your right to yours ..slim
 im way to old to really keep arms other than my ccw.. but i got my money out ofem ..slim

[45454]

well we started as a republic and we are still a republic.

it was not perfect then nor now. it took along time to address many of the problems such as slavery and the rights of black and women to vote. you might its still a work in progress.

yet, even though its not perfect it simply is the best form of government ever implemented on the face of this earth.

Yes Sir !
There is not one word of "Democracy" in the Constitution.
It would be a good time,that when this word "democracy,etc" in the news,remind them that this is still
a "Republic".
Someone termed "A democracy is a rule by a mob".Or something like that.
And, it's still 100% better than sharia law.

[Dee]

And as the men exited the hall, a crowd stood outside and a woman asked: What did you give us Mr. Franklin? And Benjamin Franklin answered: A Republic madam, if you can keep it.

[Redtail1949]

yep them democrats want a democracy now ...that what you see with the so called nuke optin///they scream we are the majority////just the thing this country as a republic sought to stop. mob+majority rule.

[nomosendero]

Excellant, explained where kids can understand. I am going to send this to some young people I know.

Redtail, thanks for sharing!!

[sagegrouse715]

Well, there you go again.  We have been a representative democracy long before the Democratic party became the current  majority of our federal government. I would say since women were given the right to vote through the 19th amendment in 1920. We are not a pure democracy because we personally do not get vote on all government decisions like the Greeks did.  We elect government officials who get to make those decisions.  You can also say we are a republic because we do choose our rulers.  We are also a democracy because  ALL CITIZENS Get to Vote.  There have been many republics where all the citizens have not been allowed to vote.  All the citizens of the United States did not get to vote in 1787 when the Constitution was written. 

We do have rule by the majority who are in power who have to follow the nations laws.  The Congress obviously also can make or change the nations laws.  Our founding fathers also wisely put in place checks and balances to protect the citizenry from tyranny by the majority.  James Madison expressed concerns for this in the Federalist Papers.  And We The People certainly don't want tyranny by the minority.  I personally have no fear of the word democracy.  Thus far in the history of the United States it hasn't resulted in mob rule or the takeover by a dictator as Franklin feared.  I would like to see who is willing to forfeit their voting rights so we can say we are not a democracy.   Our system isn't perfect but as Redtail states it is the best governmental system devised to date.  And I am proud to be an American and glad this is my country. 

[Redtail1949]

majority does not rule....electorial college for one example..several presidents got the majority of votes cast but still lost the elections. the checks in the senate have kept the majority from mob rulle so far. the problem is some dufus (i think republicans at the time) had a new rule implemented called reconcilliation (not designed for these types of matters) that without specific language that prohibits them from using it the Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Reid as well as the uber leftist supporters want to mob rule and use it. that really does show the dangers of changing things some a^5$ will alwayus find new and inventive ways to use something like that.

now if they do i predict riots over it the people like i said have flat had their fill of them all.

[sagegrouse715]

Get a majority of votes and you get elected to an office.  A majority of electoral votes elects the president.  A majority of votes cause a bill to pass in state and federal government.  And local governments.  Unless of course there is an executive veto.  To me that sounds like majority rule within the realm of existing law.

[m-g Willy]

Good vid.
The trouble with this country is that very few have ANY idea of what the difference between the two are.
Sort of like inalienable (unalienable) Rights.
Alot of sheeple think the government has the right to take them.
So they sit back and watch the government take them without so much as a whimper from the sheeple!

[Redtail1949]

i have to admit i was one of those people that just shrugged it off and went on about my ratkilling. only in the last ten years have i even bothered with it all. much more intensly in the last 4 years. it is shocking to me to realize just how far we have in fact drifted away from what we are supposed to be. i see more interest and serious opposition to whats going on now more than ever in my lifetime incuding the anti war 60's

[KB21]

This country lost its status as a republic when Abraham Lincoln unconstitutionally invaded the CSA.  He was the first marxist socialist president this country had.  There have been a string of marxist socialist presidents since then including FDR, Woodrow Wilson, Harry Truman, JFK, Lyndon Johnson, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and now maybe the biggest socialist of them all Hussein Obama.  Bush 1 and 2 weren't marxists, but they weren't strong conservatives that supported the constitution and states rights.  IMO, Trent Lott was correct back in, I think it was 2002 or so, when he said this country would have been much better off had Strom Thurmond won the election in 1948.

[Dee]

This country lost its status as a republic when Abraham Lincoln unconstitutionally invaded the CSA.  He was the first marxist socialist president this country had.  There have been a string of marxist socialist presidents since then including FDR, Woodrow Wilson, Harry Truman, JFK, Lyndon Johnson, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and now maybe the biggest socialist of them all Hussein Obama.  Bush 1 and 2 weren't marxists, but they weren't strong conservatives that supported the constitution and states rights.  IMO, Trent Lott was correct back in, I think it was 2002 or so, when he said this country would have been much better off had Strom Thurmond won the election in 1948.

Well I'm with you on everything but Strom Thurmond, and the Bushs. The Bushes were, and are, Socialists. Daddy Bush ran all over the world hollerin New World Order, and GW, set the stage with the Patriot Act, and the SINGLE HANDED BAIL OUT, of the auto industry before he left. He left all the tools in place that Obama needs.

[teamnelson]

The clip makes a good point about the political spectrum ... its not dems on one side and repub on the other. Its no government on one side and all government on the other, which to my mind puts both the democrat and republican parties squarely on the opposite end of the spectrum from me as they both continue to grow and expand the government and its powers every chance they can. Sure they do it in different areas, but ground taken is not easily given up.

[sagegrouse715]

And before Lincoln's invasion of the CSA, Jefferson made the unconsitutional Louisiana Purchase from the French.  And before that, Washington used the army to enforce the discriminatory Whiskey tax on Pennsylvania farmers.       

[SHOOTALL]

Some here have mentioned State govt. Well that is not Federal Govt. We elect people to repsent us and trust they vote as we wish so we don't really have Maj. rule . Yep all white land owners wrote the law of the land , what is odd is the non whites , women and non land owners all were brought on board using the law written long ago by those white men gave us . Why all the complaining ? The law worked for ya'll and allowed the country to transition