Americans Abandon Voting - Less than 50% even participate - What democracy?

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What the news media and political parties are not telling us about our $5 billion election next year?

Our media and politicians tend to portray the United States of America as the ultimate democracy in the world and have consistently presented us as the defenders of freedom and democracy.

Well I must be confused because nowhere is the word "democracy" mentioned in the Declaration of Independence or the U.S. Constitution. How could that be?  Come to think of it, no where are the words capitalism or political party mentioned either.

Our government is supposed to be a democracy!

What exactly is the definition of a democracy?

The Cambridge Dictionary - Definition of "democracy"

The belief in freedom and equality between people, or a system of government based on this belief, in which power is held by elected representatives or directly by the people themselves.

A country in which power is held by elected representatives.

The Cambridge Dictionary - Definition of "republic"

A country that is governed by elected representatives and an elected leader.

So in a pure democracy power is held by the people directly, while a republic elects representatives to look out for the public interest.  Well let us look at that in light of the current state of American participation in the election of our representatives and leader.

Pythagorean Analysis of Voter reality in America

Total USA Population Today          325,332,205

Total Population under 18                 78,000,000

Total Population 18 and over          247,322,000

Total Eligible Voters 18+                 247,322,000

Total Registered Voters                    142,200,000

Percent                                                            57%

Total Voter Turnout 2012                121,757,000

Percent of Registered Voters                        85.6%

Percent of Eligible Voters                             49.2%

Total Obama Votes 2012                    62,615,406

Percent of Registered Voters                        44%

Percent of Eligible Voters                             25.3%                                                                        

Total Romney Voters 2012                 59,100,000

Percent of Registered Voters                       41.5%

Percent of Eligible Voters                             23.9%                                    

Total Eligible Voters not Voting       125,565,000

Percent of Eligible Voters                             50.8%                                                

Total Leaning Independent                          43%

Total Leaning Democrat                               30%

Total Leaning Republican                            26%                           

Nothing can be more dramatic than the realization that not only do we not have a democracy we do not even have a functioning republic in this the citadel of world democracy.  For perhaps the first time in our history, more Americans refused to participate in the voting process by refusing to register to vote, a consequence of freedom or common sense I suspect.

Our political system has failed to support our constitutional requirements for a republic.  Yet I do not hear a single candidate for either party raise the issue of the disconnect between our political parties and our constitutional rights.

Wake up America!  Better yet, wake up news media and politicians who are ignorant of history and fail to understand the meaning of a republic.  As a last, gasp effort to steer them in the right direction, here is an explanation of the American system of government as envisioned by our founding fathers back before the concentration of power in our news media and political parties.

Is the United States a democracy?  Here is an explanation by ThisNation.com

The Pledge of Alliance includes the phrase: "and to the republic for which it stands." Is the United States of America a republic? I always thought it was a democracy? What's the difference between the two?

The United States is, indeed, a republic, not a democracy. Accurately defined, a democracy is a form of government in which the people decide policy matters directly--through town hall meetings or by voting on ballot initiatives and referendums. A republic, on the other hand, is a system in which the people choose representatives who, in turn, make policy decisions on their behalf. 

The Framers of the Constitution were altogether fearful of pure democracy. Everything they read and studied taught them that pure democracies "have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths" (Federalist No. 10).

By popular usage, however, the word "democracy" come to mean a form of government in which the government derives its power from the people and is accountable to them for the use of that power. In this sense the United States might accurately be called a democracy. However, there are examples of "pure democracy" at work in the United States today that would probably trouble the Framers of the Constitution if they were still alive to see them. Many states allow for policy questions to be decided directly by the people by voting on ballot initiatives or referendums.

(Initiatives originate with, or are initiated by, the people while referendums originate with, or are referred to the people by, a state's legislative body.) That the Constitution does not provide for national ballot initiatives or referendums is indicative of the Framers' opposition to such mechanisms. They were not confident that the people had the time, wisdom or level-headedness to make complex decisions, such as those that are often presented on ballots on election day.

Writing of the merits of a republican or representative form of government, James Madison observed that one of the most important differences between a democracy and a republic is "the delegation of the government [in a republic] to a small number of citizens elected by the rest."

The primary effect of such a scheme, Madison continued, was to:

. . . refine and enlarge the public views by passing them through the medium of a chosen body of citizens whose wisdom may best discern the true interest of their country and whose patriotism and love of justice will be least likely to sacrifice it to temporary or partial considerations. Under such a regulation it may well happen that 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 same purpose (Federalist No. 10).

Later, Madison elaborated on the importance of "refining and enlarging the public views" through a scheme of representation:

There are particular moments in public affairs when the people, stimulated by some irregular passion, or some illicit advantage, or misled by the artful misrepresentations of interested men, may call for measures which they themselves will afterwards be most ready to lament and condemn. In these critical moments, how salutary will be the interference of some temperate and respectable body of citizens, in order to check the misguided career and to suspend the blow meditated by the people against themselves, until reason, justice and truth can regain their authority over the public mind (Federalist No. 63).

In the strictest sense of the word, the system of government established by the Constitution was never intended to be a "democracy." This is evident not only in the wording of the Pledge of Alliance but in the Constitution itself which declares that "The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government" (Article IV, Section 4).  Moreover, the scheme of representation and the various mechanisms for selecting representatives established by the Constitution were clearly intended to produce a republic, not a democracy.

To the extent that the United States of America has moved away from its republican roots and become more "democratic," it has strayed from the intentions of the Constitution's authors. Whether or not the trend toward more direct democracy would be smiled upon by the Framers depends on the answer to another question. Are the American people today sufficiently better informed and otherwise equipped to be wise and prudent democratic citizens than were American citizens in the late 1700s? By all accounts, the answer to this second question is an emphatic "no."

Note Data Source for statistics: U.S. Bureau of the Census. "Projected Population by Single Year of Age (0-99, 100+), Sex, Race, and Hispanic Origin for the United States: July 1, 2014 to July 1, 2060." Released December 2014. Web-based data files available at:

http://www.census.gov/population/projections/data/national/2014/downloadablefiles.html

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The Pope and the President - the Peoples' Pals

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Today President Obama had his first face-to-face meeting with the popular new renegade running the Roman Catholic Vatican, Pope Francis, already revered as the People's Pope.  In the hours before the meeting the Vatican leaked out that Obama was really no stranger to the Catholic faith as he was close to the Catholic Church in Chicago and even received a grant from the church to jump start his career as a community organizer.

Of course he followed that up with his joining the congregation of Reverend Jeremiah Wright, the fire brand Obama family friend and preacher who preached himself out of the Obama campaign for sermons like his "White folks' greed runs a world in need" racist rants.  However, since taking over the White House Obama has downplayed his religion, but not his spirituality I might add, and seldom attends church.

Pope Francis lives in a church when he is not out shattering all Vatican protocols and sharing dinner with the people, kissing babies, washing feel, tending to the sick, hugging humans, and acting like, well, like Jesus must have intended it in ministering to the masses.

So how about some comparative factoids?

How many popes have there been?

Pope Francis is pope number 266.

How many presidents have there been?

Barack Obama is president number 44.

How old is the Roman Catholic Church?

The church is 1,981 years old.

How old is the United States?

The USA is 238 years old.

How many constituents does the Pope serve?

There are 1.211 billion Roman Catholics.

How many constituents does the president serve?

There are 317 million Americans including DC.

How many countries have Catholics?

There are 201 countries with Catholic population.

How many countries have US citizens?

There is one country and six territories with US citizens.

(District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, American Samoa & Northern Mariana Islands - about 1 million people total - 600,000+ in DC)

How many Catholics in United States?

There are 78.2 million Catholics.

How many Democrats in USA?

There about 86 million Democrats.

How many Catholics support Democrats in USA?

In 1964 80-90% supported Democrats but recent elections 50%.

What does that mean?

In order to win president a democrat must get over 50% of the Catholic vote.

What is the Pope's approval rating among Catholics?

The Pope has an 88% approval rating among Catholics.

What is the President's approval rating among Democrats?

The President has an 80% approval rating among Democrats.

What is the Pope's approval rating among all Americans?

The Pope has a 63% approval rating among all Americans.

What is the President's approval  rating among all Americans?

The President has a 41% approval rating among all Americans.

Francis is the first pope from South America.

Obama is the first Black to be president.

There you have it.  And by the way, America never sends it's leader anywhere without adequate protection and support staff so our president was accompanied by 700 security, staffers and White House press corps.  Good thing Michelle wasn't with him since she was off for two weeks in China with her daughters and mother and a few hundred more security and staff personnel.

The agenda in Rome, well that remains to be seen what was really discussed because no matter what the similarities between the two and their policies of embracing the poor there are some stark and highly explosive policy differences between them including ObamaCare forcing the church hospitals to dispense contraceptives, gay marriage, wars, massive refugee concerns and others.  

As the truth of what happened behind closed doors leaks out we will report on the latest developments.  By the way, did I mention Putin beat him to the Pope stopping by the Vatican on his way to hijacking Crimea?

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Our Boss is Still Tougher Than Your Boss - Obama versus Putin

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What greater weapons of mass deception are there in the world than the leaders of the United States of America and Russia, Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin..  Imagine what it would be like if these two controversial and complicated political foes and leaders were to square off in the first ever people's choice contest for the toughest leader in the world.

 

Looks like Putin may have the best transportation for the Iron Man competition. 

No offense Mr. Obama but Putin may take this event as well.

We thought you might agree.

Wow - he can be quite charming to the right crowd. 

Maybe Obama is at least the more expressive.

They don't seem to be in to the competition.

Which one is the hyena?

Both are masters of mind control.

Perhaps they should keep their day jobs.

Forget Snowden, listen to this masterpiece.

So much for silly competition.

What else is there to do here in Russia?

Boy I miss the days when George and I got crazy.

Told you the kid never had a chance.

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Maybe it's time to leave the Ukraine to the Ukrainians

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International manipulation underway by Russia, the United States and the European Union to control the fate and future of the Ukraine might be the way we like to play the game of foreign policy but recent events raise serious questions as to the validity of such an approach.

Sometimes it just seems like the big boys, those so called more civilized Western nations don't know when to leave well enough alone.  I think most countries like to give lip service to respecting the will of the people indigenous to a region like the Ukraine, but darn if we can really keep our word when it comes to actions.

 

 

Perhaps we forget little historical facts like the Ukraine has been settled by members of the homo genus since 43,000-45,000 BC when they were first called Neanderthals and discovered in the Molodova archaeological sites.  And Gravettian settlements were unearthed dating to 32,000 BC in the Buran-Kaya cave site of the Crimean Mountains.

 

 

It was part of the Khazar kingdom when time changed from BC to AD, the time of the birth and life of Jesus, and by 800 AD became Jewish.  Prior to that the Roman Emperor Constantine, a non-Christian, was convinced by his mother Helena to first issue the Edict of Milan in 313 AD granting religious tolerance to all religions.

 

 

Twelve years later there was the first ecumenical council, the Council of Nicea in 325 AD, when he ordered the adoption of the Nicene Creed which evolved into the universal creed of Christendom.  Thus Constantine embraced Christianity and became the first Holy Roman (Christian) emperor.  From that time on Christianity was also evolving in the Ukraine.

 

 

However, it took until the Great Moravia empire under the Grand Duke Vladimir the Great before the Ukraine formally embraced Christianity in 988 AD.  Like Emperor Constantine earlier Vladimir was influenced by a strong Christian female in the family, his grandmother, Princess Olga.

 

 

The Ukraine, like every country or kingdom in the world, was beset by war after war throughout the centuries, the rather odd consequence of the evolution of civilization in the western world.

 

 

So commonplace were wars that The New York Times reported in 2003 that in the prior 3,400 years humans have been entirely at peace for just 268 years, or just 8 percent of recorded history.  You can throw in the last 11 years since The New York Times article because wars continued (Iraq & Afghanistan).

 

 

In Europe alone which includes the Ukraine there have been 550 wars recorded throughout history.  Ironically during the most recent 20th century a staggering 76 wars were recorded, the most of any century in history.  Included were the largest, most expensive and most devastating wars ever including World War I, World War II, Korea and Vietnam wars, though neither Korea nor Vietnam count in the European total.

 

 

So nations like the Ukraine and most of Europe have been buried in a deluge of wars since recorded history began and as mankind matured and became more civilized the pace and terror of war increased proportionately.  What in the world does that tell you about the nature of mankind?

 

The Ukraine took the first step in actual independence, something they really haven't had since the Neanderthal age some 45,000 years ago.  They revolted and threw out the President Viktor Yanukovych accusing him of murdering civilians during the recent demonstrations and stealing billions of dollars from the nation.

 

 

In the meantime in Crimea thugs seized government buildings and today two airports and raised Russian flags.  Crimea has been pro-Russia ever since the Soviet Union quashed a Ukrainian revolt and brought on the great famine of 1921, leaving 1.5 million Ukrainians dead.

 

From then on the Soviets under Josef Stalin tried to liquidate opposition and to repopulate the country with Russians.  With the fall of the Soviet Empire in 1991 independence seemed to return to the nation but economic difficulties, foreign interference and competitive manipulation by Russia, the European Union and United States made it impossible.

 

 

The people of the Ukraine and Crimea have been forced together for so long and manipulated by so many that the Crimea favors strong ties to Russia and the Ukraine to Europe.  Perhaps in the end the two must become separate countries so they can align with the nations they desire.

 

 

My plea is for all competitors to stop this game of international chess and for the first time in about 45,000 years let the people of the Ukraine and Crimea decide for themselves how to structure and align their nation.

 

Hasn't our brand of western civilization ruined enough lives and nations over the centuries?  The people of the Ukraine and Crimea know what is best, what kind of government they want, and what kind of relationships they want with the rest of the world.  Give them the few billions of dollars of foreign aid they need and step back and let it happen.

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