Democracy-The belief that citizens can arrive at judgements, both intelligent and fair and they are better for them than those politicians develope secretly and impose.
Democracy is dependent on leaders fairly and honestly elected by citizens. They govern based on accountability, openness, the rule of law, encouragement of debate and recognition of value of dissent. In recent years it seems that our government has become increasingly contemtuous of its citizens.
We citizens must become active in resuscitating our democracy and demanding that our leaders develop and implement strategies to strengthen, not weaken,it.
Where do our correct presidential candidates stand on supporting voter rights, criminalizing voter intimidation, electing presidents by popular vote, tightening lobbying laws(or eliminating lobbying), giving Congress the ability to override signing statements, strengthening the Freedom of Information Act, re-establishing the fairness doctrine, establishing guarantees of a free press, outlawing cronyism, establishing term limits for Congress and judges and accepting democracy as the cornerstone of their platform?. Democracy can become undone wrote Sean Wilentz "The Rise of American Democracy"
Exit Iraq, CampaignNetwork , CSpan , Crooks and Liars, Democracy Arsenal, Divided We Fail, Lou Dobbs, and MoveOn, The Kallok Report. Politico, The BushAgenda, The Hill, The HuffingtonPost, Tapped American Prospect, The Notion,
America can't survive another GOP president. The morning after George Bush was elected president in November 2000, newspaper headline in europe carried the common theme, "Are Americans That Dumb?"
The implications was that had the voter done his homework. there is no way Bush would have been elected. After all, Bush graduated from Yale University near the bottom of his class and received a master's degree in business administration. He went into private business and went bankrupt three times.
As governor of Texas, he bankrupted the state in six years and he and a Republican Congress have suceeded in bankrupting this nation He has increased the size of government by 40 percent and has spent more money and created the largest deficit in history-more than all 42 other presidents combined.
Bush is correct in stating"We are not in recession."We are on the brink of an economic meltdown that will rival the Great Depression. The Bush administration is desperately trying to hold off the eventual financial collapse until after the election in the fall. What we have is Herbert Hoover sitting in the White House with his clone for president, John McCain, carrying a bigger shovel to dig us deeper in debt with the promise of more wars, more tax cuts for the weathy and corporations.
With high gas prices, soaring food costs and skyrocking energy costs, the uninformed voter is being manipulated to focus more about wheather a presidential candidate wears a American flag in his lapel. Or let's hold him responsible for what his pastor says. Or even though he was only 8 years when some guy he knows was blowing up federal buidings, let's tie them both together.
In this life you usually get what you deserve, whether it is the job you have or the partner you have chosen in marriage or the president you elect. The Americaqn voter are being challenged today, and unless they rise above their ignorance, hypocrisy and prejudice, they deserve another Republican in the White House. Don Davis Crown Point
In a previous letter, Vallrie McGill Grant made an especially important about being reasonable and fair. Every nation should halt nuclear weapons. It's about the Bush administraion's hounding of North Korea and Iran not to gain nuclear capability. She said those countries should not have nuclear weapons, but here's the critical point of her disarmament quest: Why can the United States and six other nations maintain their nuclear arsenals, then demand that North Korea and Iran should not?. It makes no sense, that the rest of the world sees this a blatant hypocrisy.
President Bush has called these two countries as "Evil and resently branded Iran as a"Rogue state" meaning isolated, aberrant, dangererous and uncontrollable. I question Bush's name calling, as I have not seen nor heard any evidence of them invading another country-as Bush unilaterally has done.
The least of the United States could do is to expand this dispute into a worldwide nuclear disarmament plan, whereby every country disarms.
It is well-put in Brian McLaren's book,"Everything Must Change," that the richest countries of this world are collectively addicted to war, domination, violence and material excess. This is just one of the many causes of human suffering, and it's about time we citizens wake up from a safe little world and act as the Constitution says we can, by voting and voicing our opinions. That is if you care American citizens.
John Anderson Kouts
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