Congressional approval rating lower than Bush's

[scaeagles]

Originally Posted by alphabassettgrrl

My congressman does not represent me in the slightest and he doesn't care. I've written him about my concerns on various issues and he sends me form letters saying thanks but we disagree and I'll vote however I damn well please.

Such is the nature of a representative republic. We do not live in a democracy.

[JWBear]

Originally Posted by scaeagles

... We do not live in a democracy.

WRONG! The United States is a Democratic Republic. Our representatives are elected democratically. The terms "democracy" and "republic" are not mutualy exclusive.

From Merriam-Webster:

Pronunciation: di-'mä-kr&-sE
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural -cies
Etymology: Middle French democratie, from Late Latin democratia, from Greek dEmokratia, from dEmos + -kratia -cracy
1 a : government by the people; especially : rule of the majority b : a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections
2 : a political unit that has a democratic government
3 capitalized : the principles and policies of the Democratic party in the United States <from emancipation Republicanism to New Deal Democracy -- C. M. Roberts>
4 : the common people especially when constituting the source of political authority
5 : the absence of hereditary or arbitrary class distinctions or privileges

Pronunciation: ri-'p&-blik
Function: noun
Etymology: French république, from Middle French republique, from Latin respublica, from res thing, wealth + publica, feminine of publicus public -- more at REAL, PUBLIC
1 a (1) : a government having a chief of state who is not a monarch and who in modern times is usually a president (2) : a political unit (as a nation) having such a form of government b (1) : a government in which supreme power resides in a body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by elected officers and representatives responsible to them and governing according to law (2) : a political unit (as a nation) having such a form of government c : a usually specified republican government of a political unit <the French Fourth Republic>
2 : a body of persons freely engaged in a specified activity <the republic of letters>
3 : a constituent political and territorial unit of the former nations of Czechoslovakia, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, or Yugoslavia

This "America is not a democracy" sound bite is relatively recent rhetoric - put forward by the right to further their own agenda. None of our Founding Fathers would have stood still for such rubbish.

[wendybeth]

Originally Posted by scaeagles

Such is the nature of a representative republic. We do not live in a democracy.

While I understand what you meant by this short, rather terse statement, you should not be surprised by the vehement rebuttal. You said 'yikes' to the responses, but when I read this I was a bit angered. I don't think JW was out of line in his response, Scaegles- if one of us makes a post like this that you know to be wrong, you are pretty good at pointing it out as well.