This is a little late but worthy of posting as it offers a decent description
of the difference in a democracy and a republic as defined by our founding
fathers (understanding that there were those outside the US who believe they
are the same thing - in literal definition maybe but not in US interpretation
- which is what matters in this instance).
Enjoy.
Michael
A Letter To Al Gore
Thank you, Al Gore. As a high school history teacher, I owe you a debt
of gratitude. You see, the way you have conducted your campaigns
(the election campaign and the ballot-manipulation campaign) has
provided me with endless opportunities to show my students the
beauty of our Constitution and the wisdom of our founding fathers.
Take the electoral college system. Thank you, thank you, thank you,
Al. For six years, I have done my best to explain the logic and
benefits of the system hammered out by Mr. Madison and a few of his
cronies. High school students just don't get why they chose such a
complicated process. Why not simply go by popular vote? I'd
patiently explain that the electoral system was designed to allow
the people to speak through their states. The tricky part was making
my students understand why that was especially beneficial to small
states like ours. I knew that, proportionally, Rhode Islanders have
more clout in the presidential election under this system, but I
wasn't able to illustrate it dramatically until this year.
When I showed my students the US map, colored red for Governor
Bush and blue for you, they finally got it. Anyone can clearly see
that the popular vote of only a handful of major cities is almost
equal to that of the entire rest of the US Thank God the founding
fathers had the wisdom and insight to provide this protection to
those of us in small states or sparsely settled areas. The look of
shock on my pupils' faces when they realized that public policy
could easily be dictated by a handful of the largest and most
liberal population centers made me realize that I had them hooked.
They could begin to see why Senator-elect Hillary Clinton, in one of
her first post-election speeches, promised to fight to abolish the
electoral college.
This was too good an opportunity to pass up. Pulling out my
well-worn copy of The Federalist Papers, I seized the advantage and
began to read from No. 68. "It was also peculiarly desirable to
afford as little opportunity as possible to tumult and disorder.
Nothing was more to be desired than that every practicable obstacle
should be opposed to cabal, intrigue and corruption," Alexander
Hamilton wrote in defense of the electoral college system. As I told
my students, you can insert the phrase "in the year 2000 in Florida"
throughout this letter and be amazed at Hamilton's gift of prophecy.
The spectacle we are now witnessing in your campaign to overturn the
election in Florida, Al, is the very thing that our Founding Fathers
most feared. Although they couldn't anticipate the advent of
television, they were familiar with the harm that an inflamed and
largely uninformed populace could wreak. What a tremendous lesson
you have provided the youth of our country. No longer are Hamilton,
Madison et al. dead white men," incapable of teaching us anything.
Rather, they reach out to us through the ages, warning us of "these
most deadly adversaries of republican government."
This reminds me of another teaching opportunity you have afforded
me. In the past few weeks, you have lectured about your desire to
uphold our "democracy," but surely you realize that our government
is not a democracy, but a republic. Don't worry about it, most of my
10th graders didn't know the difference either until they read The
Federalist No. 10. In it, James Madison brilliantly outlines the
advantages that republics have over democracies, which he deems
"spectacles of turbulence and contention."
The founding fathers anticipated the drawbacks to a democracy and
instead created a republic because "the public voice pronounced by
the representatives of the people will be more consonant to the
public good than if pronounced by the people themselves convened for
the purpose." Those "spontaneous" demonstrations led and
orchestrated by the Rev. Jesse Jackson in Florida are proof of the
validity of the founders' concerns. Still, I must thank you, Al, for
the boon you have been to my teaching this year. By continuing to
stir up passions in Florida, by dragging out the inevitable, and by
convincing segments of the population that they have been wronged at
the hands of other groups, you have proved the founders' concerns
justified. No need for me to paint a hypothetical picture of the
dangers of mob rule; my students can see examples of it on the
nightly news.
Finally, Al, you've helped me to get across the most salient aspect
of any civics lesson - that a republic is only possible where the
people are virtuous. All these years I have lectured, with minimal
success, on the fragility of our system of government, stressing the
need for wisdom, honor and self-sacrifice among our nation's
citizens and leaders. How easy you have made it for me to show my
students the dangers of the politics of selfishness,
disingenuousness and division. During your election campaign you
tried, with some success, to disassociate yourself from your
predecessor, who so blatantly tarnished our nation's highest office
and was the poster-child for self-absorption. Since election day,
however, you have shown yourself to be even more dangerous: a
demagogue. Your win-at-all-costs attitude has resulted in a nation
that is deeply divided; violence simmers beneath the surface. My
students, indeed all Americans, are contemplating the consequences
of electing a man who has admitted he would do anything to win.
No matter what happens as a result of this election, Al, your legacy
is assured. We will learn the lessons you have taught us.
Carol B. Smith
Michael
Small Business Opportunities
Home Shopping Service
Automatic Product Delivery
http://ibo.bwwonline.com/2CR
