[detbuch]

Anyone notice how often politicians refer to "our Democracy" in characterizing our country? Probably not. The notion that we are a democracy has been too well ingrained in our minds to give the characterization a second thought.

When was the last time you recall a politician referring to "our Republic"? Every now and then you might hear a "Conservative" mouthing those words. But never a Progressive.

I particularly noticed it when Hillary gave her concession speech. It actually grated my ears when she referred to this or "our Democracy." She did that three times in a short speech. She talked about our "country" seven times, and our "nation" twice. Never mentioned our "republic." She did end it with the obligatory asking God to bless the United States of America.

I wonder if for her the phrase "United States" is just some vague synonym for "our Democracy"? If to her, "United" is merely a nice, cooperative sounding euphemism meaning no more than us folks all uniting to make "our Democracy" a better stronger place, and if "States" are simply geographic areas that comprise delineated land areas of "our Democracy"?

It's as if, to a Progressive, the phrase "our Republic" is like garlic, or sunlight, or a wooden stake, or a cross to a vampire. As if saying it would suck the life out of a Progressive. Make her disappear.

And now that once again a Democrat has won the popular vote but lost the electoral vote, Eric Holder seriously proposes that we do away with the Electoral College. Sounds reasonable, right? Shouldn't the majority decide in a democracy? In "our Democracy"?

Didn't popular election of Senators provided by the Seventeenth Amendment, instead of them being appointed by State legislatures, make their elections more democratic? Doesn't that suit "our Democracy" better? Well . . . it helps to transform us more into a democracy rather than a republic. And, along with the 16th Amendment, it created a stronger central government at the expense of State governments.

Which of y'all would prefer us to be a democracy rather than a republic? Which would rather that the States become merely areas on the map without distinct separate powers--that we were all more efficiently and totally under a single central government, one State rather than 50 different ones?

Seriously. I would like to know how you think on this. You could make a very good case for it.