(Jake McGuire) wrote:

Ed Rasimus wrote in message . ..
We are indeed "an experiment in Democracy", but if you examine the
Constitution (which you so freely refer to) you'll see that the
Founding Fathers weren't all that confident in the ability of the
"great unwashed" to govern themselves. Until the 17th Amendment,
ratified in 1913, the Senate was "appointed" by the various state
legislatures--not popularly elected. For the first 126 years of the
Republic, only the House was popularly elected. The Senate, the Prez,
the Judiciary, all were selected by a process that was isolated from
"we the people"--insuring the control of the elites, the Founders
themselves.

While deferring to your expertise in this matter, isn't the opposite
spin of "The founders thought that it was wise to add some inertia
between the sometimes erratic and fickle vote of the populace and the
actual mechanism of power, while still leaving the people in ultimate
control" just as valid?

I think that there's a lot to be said for "Give someone the
responsibility and the authority to do the job, give them time to do
it, and then review their performance at appropriate intervals"
instead of "micromanage every aspect of everything." I don't trust
myself to make an informed decision on everything that comes down the
pike, and I sure as hell don't trust my fellow citizens. Especially
since I live in California.

-jake

I couldn't agree more. Just as in California, we in Colorado are
plagued by "initiatives" (what you in CA refer to as
"propositions")--the "take-it-or-leave-it" simple majority, populist
vote without regard to budget cost, priority, long-term consequence or
even Constitutionality. No debate, no amendment, no compromise, no
consensus-building required--a simple up or down vote on something
that everyone wants and no one wants to pay for. Yeahh, this democracy
is sure great!!!


Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (ret)
***"When Thunder Rolled:
*** An F-105 Pilot Over N. Vietnam"
*** from Smithsonian Books
ISBN: 1588341038