A Democratic Dictatorship

[kingjoshi]

Are we a Democratic dictatorship? No.

Have we continually shifted the balances in the checks and balances and made the executive branch much more powerful? Yes.

This is beyond Bush. This is about the powers we are giving to the Executive branch of the government. Allowing husbands to hit wives as a punishment is wrong. Even if you proclaim that you're a good husband and never hit your wife, the power should not be yours. What about the other husbands who aren't so nice? What about the new president four years from now? What if he isn't so trustworthy?

 

[Ayatollah So]

What kingjoshi said.

I place most of the blame on (past and present) Congresses and Supremes. The nation's founders expected each branch to play tug-of-war with the balance of powers, so they wouldn't be surprised to see that presidents have tried to grab more power. They would have been shocked, though, to see Congress roll over and play dead. The Supremes should have known better than to let it pass, too.

 

[Keshik]

How can you really take this seriously when it says "omnipotent" power? Come on, people. They were probably writing things like this when Washington and Lincoln were in office, too. Anyone who thinks our constitution will not outlast any administration needs to review history and civics a few more times.

I told myself I would never respond to anymore Zulu threads. Damn.

 

[Tenochtitlan]

It's more of a corporate fascism.

 

[Xanikk999]

It's more of a corporate fascism.

I wouldnt say fascism. The only element of fascism we have is the strong nationalism. And its not even on par as fascist governments of the past.

 

[Tenochtitlan]

A corporate fascism is unlike other fascisms, it works in disguise and thrives on the apathy of the population.

 

[Xanikk999]

A corporate fascism is unlike other fascisms, it works in disguise and thrives on the apathy of the population.

But can you explain how our government is a corporate fascist government?

We have lobbyists from all areas that influence government. Not just corporations but also public and private organizations.

And most importantly corporations have no say on who gets elected. Its still a voting system in this country.

 

[The Yankee]

Let's see,

Zulu puts up articles every day that are essentially the same thing: Liberal biased "observations" taken out of context, in some way targeted at the United States or president Bush in an attempt to say something like "Teh United States is an evil empire with civil rights abuse and racism." or "Bush is a tyrant and/or a moron and should be impeached."

He plays this silly parade over and over again every day in an attempt to prove some sort of point and is egged on by the largely liberal userbase of these forums, in which he essentially flames Americans (and the blind liberals from America don't really understand that either) and gets away with it.

He never has anything to say really. He probably takes these articles from some other liberal forum or by google, and posts it here, adding an edgy little comment at the end like: "That article pretty much sums up my opinion of the USA right now. Liberty - use it or lose it!". Aka a TROLL.

And being one in response doesn't help anything. Refute whatever points the article/Zulu make or don't bother posting. I usually at least skim through these even though I don't have much to say about it. I do believe these articles often go too far in its criticism. Something like saying the President decides when war starts is not so much a sign of dictatorship than loopholes in the law that have allowed the President to use a vote in the Congress as the basis for prolonged military action. That has been the case for decades.

 

[The Yankee]

Interesting that Bush calls himself the 'decider' BTW.... for those who don't know Latin, 'dictator' means 'the one who speaks'... in other words, 'the one who says what will be done'..... sound anything like 'decider' to you?

Which was also taken out of context. IIRC, he's only said it once and that was only to say he's the ultimate authority in deciding whether a member of his Cabinet (Rumsfeld) should get the axe.

 

[Red Stranger]

Zulu, I think you're missing the point of what a Democracy is. A Democracy doesn't mean that the President will do what you like every time. It means that the President will do what's best for the people. Sometimes the majority will approve, sometime the majority will not. Look at Abraham Lincoln. A majority of the people at his time didn't care for the liberation of the slaves, but he did it anyways. That is Democracy. Why is it that the Democrats, which shares the root word with Democracy are the ones that are least supportive of Democracy, and that it always takes a Republican to bring about the change? Makes you wonder.

 

[The Yankee]

You're confusing the real meaning of Democracy, which would have people voting to approve everything under the sun with a leader under a republic with democratic traditions, as the CIA Factbook says about us.

 

[Tenochtitlan]

@Xanikk999,

I am currently reading an article concerning the subject matter. I still have to read some more to come up with a good response. I have seen a documentary called The Corporation (dir Mark Achbar). But I still have to watch it again. So please be patient with me

 

[.Shane.]

I wouldnt say fascism. The only element of fascism we have is the strong nationalism. And its not even on par as fascist governments of the past.

No, its not, not exactly. Its more of a pseudo-fascism. In that, we have elections and in 2.5 years, love him or hate him, Bush will be gone.

However, yes, there are many traits that Bush and his supporters (by that I mean high-level, not individual voters per se) share many traits with fascists: Ubernationalism, the belief in the supremacy of your nation, the disingenuous usage of religious indignation to control morality, the creation of bogeymen (if Iraq isn't a bogeyman, then I don't know what is), reduction of personal freedoms for "security", subjugation of science to policy, the marriage of corporate interests and govt. interests (Iraq, energy policy, etc...).

Now, does this mean that all Republicans are "pseudo-fascist"? Of course not, not by a long shot. The problem w/ Bush and the neo-cons is that they exist in violation of many of the tenets that defined conservatives in the late 1900s: fiscal responsibility, smaller govt., returning power to states from fed. govt. The area where he is consistant w/ traditional conservative values is in a strong defense. But, even there, he favors contractors and corporations over rank and file military as evidenced by his attempts (tbh, I don't recall if they were successful) to cut VA funding/health benefits.

 

[Phlegmak]

You're confusing the real meaning of Democracy, which would have people voting to approve everything under the sun with a leader under a republic with democratic traditions, as the CIA Factbook says about us.

Right.

The US is a republic, but it's frequently called a democracy.

In a republic, the politicians are NOT your servants, actually. You elect them, then they do what they want. Your only power over them is to vote for someone else next time around.

 

[ainwood]

And being one in response doesn't help anything. Refute whatever points the article/Zulu make or don't bother posting. I usually at least skim through these even though I don't have much to say about it. I do believe these articles often go too far in its criticism. Something like saying the President decides when war starts is not so much a sign of dictatorship than loopholes in the law that have allowed the President to use a vote in the Congress as the basis for prolonged military action. That has been the case for decades.

Moderator Action: Thank-you, Yankee - I've nothing further to add, other than attacking the person and not the article will result in bans.
Please read the forum rules: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=422889



Edit:
Moderator Action: On second thoughts - thread closed. Zulu - finding and posting these articles is fine in moderation, but if you're going to post multiple ones per day, then you can do more of an objective analysis that a one liner that 'this sums up my thoughts'. Make it a discussion thread by posting something framed for discussion.