Text 23896, 42 rader
Skriven 2006-10-16 11:20:27 av John Hull (1:123/789.0)
  Kommentar till text 23895 av THURSTON ACKERMAN (1:10/345)
Ärende: OUT of Oraq or ???
==========================
THURSTON ACKERMAN -> JOHN HULL wrote:
 JH>> THURSTON ACKERMAN -> ALL wrote:
 TA>>> Massachusetts voters will have an opportunity to instruct
 TA>>> their Representative Novemember 7th To vote Yea or Ney on
 TA>>> a resolution to get our troops out of Iraq!  See details
 TA>>> at:

 TA>>>    www.boston.com/news/local/politics/candidates/articles/
 TA>>>        2006/10/11/Iraq_pullout_resolution_on_ballot?mode=PF

 TA>>> What are you doing to instuct your Representatives???????


 JH>> This is not the Athenian Democracy of Plato and Aristotle, it is a
 JH>> representative republic.  We elected a President whose job is to
 TA> determine
 JH>> national policy.  Get used to it.

 TA> His Excellency is free to determine what he sees as national policy;
 TA> but we the voters are the citizens who will have to pay for those
 TA> national policies agreed upon, and we are free to instuct our
 TA> congressional representatives what taxs we feel s/he should vote for.

 TA> I am used to Constitutional government established and supporting
 TA> our federal representative republic.

OK, but you should be more specific.  Your initial reply was somewhat vague in
that it sounded like you expected to be able to just yank your rep out of there
if he doesn't vote the way you want.  You remove a Senator or Rep. at the
ballot box if he is not performing adequately, and if you get enough votes
against him, he's gone.

What the people want, however, is not what determines national policy. The
President is elected to do that, with the Congress to aid as advisors with
control of the purse.  It is set up that way to prevent the whim of the public
from affecting that policy directly.

That's why I referred to Athenian Democracy.  I hope to god we never allow that
sort of thing to become the rule of law.

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