The news of the post above should make us thankful this holiday season of life in our liberal democracy, or industrial democracy with an electoral democracy that our opposition can still petition the government for serious grievances in a humorous way.
Freedom House’s term “electoral democracy” differs from “liberal democracy” in that the latter also implies the presence of a substantial array of civil liberties. In the survey, all Free countries qualify as both electoral and liberal democracies. By contrast, some Partly Free countries qualify as electoral, but not liberal, democracies.
That said, last week I recieved a Disapearing Civil Liberties Coffee Container with an the appalled mug of Thomas Jefferson on the box. And a Constitutional Lawyer tried to deliver over 37,000 signed Constitutions to President Bush at the White House.
"Responding to an urgent request from the Center for Constitutional Rights, Claus stepped in to bring messages from Americans who felt the President might need a refresher course in the Constitution. Citizens want to remind President Bush that the Constitution forbids torture and spying on Americans without a warrant, requires that prisoners get a fair hearing of the charges against them before a real court and makes the government's treaty obligations, such the Geneva Conventions, the law of the land. "
Video of Santa's White House delivery is linked here:
The great thing about our democracy, with an opposition voice, certain rights may seem disappearing at times. But nobody and no rights are dead yet.
3 comments:
That's the beauty of the U.S. Constitution: Unlike other countries, we have a Supreme Law which grants essential rights. Our government is far and away the most decentralized in the world, and since presidents can only serve a max of two four-year terms, any damage done by one president can be undone by his successor.
Anyway, here's one right that is slowly being crushed but nobody pays heed: The right to bear arms. Violent crime skyrockets in areas where citizens are not allowed to own guns. Check the FBI stats, I'm not making this up. Besides, hunting is far better for population control than sterilization, which is what the People for the "Ethical" Treatment of Animals advocate. When dictators sieze power, what is the first right they take away? Not free speech, not free press, not free religion. The right to own guns. If the Second Amendment goes down, then the door is truly open for democracy's demise
Garrett,
I appreciate your different interpretation of 2nd amendment rights than mine. But do not let your talking points stand in the way of the reality of breaking news -- Murder rates are going down dramatically in big cities, like Chicago with strict gun control laws:
Sunday, December 30, 2007
By COLLEEN LONG, AP
NEW YORK -- Chicago and New York are about to close out 2007 with the lowest number of homicides in more than 40 years, while cities such as Baltimore, Atlanta and Miami have seen killings go up because of what police say is a surge in guns and gang violence.
New York City reported 488 slayings as of Friday, versus 596 for all of 2006. The city is on track to have the lowest number of killings since reliable record-keeping started in 1963.
Homicides in New York reached an all-time high of 2,245 in 1990, making the city the U.S. murder capital. Since then, the numbers have plummeted, and experts attribute the decline in part to computerized tracking of crime trends and the practice of strategically flooding high-crime areas with police officers instead of spreading them evenly through the precincts.
Chicago is on track to have its lowest homicide toll since 1965, when police reported 395 killings. The city had logged 435 slayings through Dec. 26. In the early part of the decade, police often reported more than 600 a year.
Chicago officials credit the improvement to their tough stance on gangs, guns and drugs.
"Those three ingredients, so to speak, are what we're focused on," said police spokeswoman Monique Bond. "That's really what leads to random violence."
Those factors were blamed for increases in murders in other cities.
In Miami, authorities say the proliferation of assault weapons led to an increase in killings, from 56 in 2005 to 79 in 2006 and 86 so far in 2007.
"You just pull a trigger and 20 or 30 rounds come in a second and in those 20 rounds you're sure to hit your intended target and some innocent bystanders, totally unlike a firearm that is just one bullet every time you pull the trigger," Miami Police spokesman Willie Moreno said.
I don't think that the Second Amendment is really the linchpin holding our democracy together. While our freedom of speech, press, and religion are liberties that allow for free thinking and are avenues for people to affect change, guns only lead one place; and I don't think that the right to kill is something enumerated by the constitution.
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