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"and prevent the nukes from ever flying again,"

They never flew as in being launched like a strike. They were basically dropped out the bottom of a B-29 Superfortress. They never flew.

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Support Your Local Oil and Gas Companies and the Industry. Invest in Oil & Gas Futures.

Take your Kids Hunting and Fishing.

The war is not illegal.

Global warming is a hoax.


Next!

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Race is an issue that I believe this nation cannot afford to ignore right now. -Barack Obama

Then, we agree that America needs to abandon outdated ideals of freedom and conform to the modern world socialistic system. So why do you cling to the old romantic dreamer's ideas about democracy? As I pointed out before, the masses aren't qualified to make their own decisions, so why should they be allowed to choose leaders?

I think you should remove this from the thread title - (no joke)

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And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country.

And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country.

Well, Madison was opposed to any single locus of power in government. He saw the three branches as having an equal voice in determining their own powers and powers of state and federal governments. In his view, this was the only way to transcend polarized conflict. From my understanding, this view is very similar to Lincoln's philosophy of equality. The theory being that we must first see each other as equals. Madison took it a step further and not only wanted equal separation of powers, but also interlocking and interwoven relationships between the three branches, as well as federal and state governments. The theory being that any action taken by government would require such cooperation by all parties as to acknowledge each other as equals or else nothing would get done. This is my understanding of Madison currently.

In contrast, the system we seemed to have adopted is more in line with the philosphies of Alexander Hamilton, John Marshall, and Andrew Jackson in which the federal government--more specifically the supreme court-- is the authoritative interpreter of the constitution, the supreme locus of power. Interestingly the Executive branch seems to have made a bid recently to overthrow the court as the king of the country. Anyway the point being that they believed that there must be a "watchdog" or some kind of supreme power to oversee the conduct of men. This is why we saw the accumulation of power to the federal union government in the build up to the civil war.

This is my understanding of things now. As I learn more, I'll probably kick myself later for saying some of these things; I'm still a bit hesitant to speak confidently in this area.

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I'm noticing in previous pages that people seem to be making references to another characteristic of democracies--that of the polarized distinction between individual rights and majority/mob rule.

The majority/mob is not always right. This is why we have the Bill of Rights--to protect us in the case that we find ourselves in the oppressed minority.

We have far too many uneducated people who have biased opinions based on absolutely no evidence or incorrect information. The only answer might be a heavy investment in education. But even then, do people have the right to remain ignorant? How is it right for someone to have the same voting rights as I do when they remain ignorant by choice? And yet it would violate an individual's personal rights somehow to force education, or my interpretation of education, on that person. I am at a loss of what to substitute.

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Surely the amount of complications this would cause would result in more conflict, despite the intelligence levels of even the most intellectual goverments cultural differences can never be fully understood by someone foreign to them and therefore conflicts could quite easily result from what one nation believes to be a traditional burden and another their cultural right (the monarchy would be a good example here). No, national identity is good for the world and there would be one dimensional thinking even if this was eventually achieved. Though prevention of war is more important, a more moral understanding of one another is war is really required. The real answer is countries being accountable to themselves and moral intervention only when peace is potentially disturbed.

It's a terrible idea, because it would restrict our ability to start legal wars and use up so much of the worlds resources. Then they would force some kind of Kyoto style bogus global warming hoax nonsense down our throats and force us to comply based upon faulty science and data. We need to pollute the world and kill everyone before we die of old age here in the USA.

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"We should Invade Their Countries, Kill Their Leaders, and Convert Them to Christianity." Ann Coulter
There is a fine line between a subtle nuance and an extreme dichotomy! - PatriotNews

Is this from Karl Marx or what? I know...sarcasm right? Had me there for a second.

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"We should Invade Their Countries, Kill Their Leaders, and Convert Them to Christianity." Ann Coulter
There is a fine line between a subtle nuance and an extreme dichotomy! - PatriotNews

Yes - I agree completely

I have no old romantic dreamer's ideas about democracy. I agree completely that the masses aren't qualified to make their own decisions about education, health care, the environment and retirement. Choosing their leaders for them is also probably a good idea too.

After seeing many of the opinions of many Americans on these boards - I'm very glad that I don't live in a country where that level of bigotry and ignorance could play a role in a democratic process. Put simply - there are far too many stupid people around for democracy to work properly. Just look at the current US President. If that is what democracy gets you - time to find a better system.

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Have you ever stood toe to toe with someone that was intent on kicking your arse? C-D-P