Come Heller high water …
- The Michigan Supreme Court is hearing arguments this week about a proposed referendum to do away with redistricting, also called gerrymandering. If you’re not familiar with the term, gerrymandering is a game politicians play whereby they redraw voting boundary lines to favor their side. Gerrymandering is why a
map of your voting district probably looks like a squiggly, nonsensical piece of modern art and a primary reason why Michigan – traditionally a blue state – on paper is one of the reddest states in the nation, based on who’s in office. Republicans control the state House, the state Senate and Michigan’s House Congressional delegation. By some estimates, Democrats would hold three more seats in the House without gerrymandering. But, alas, that isn’t likely to change for generations, blue wave or no blue wave, thanks in part to redistricting. Hand it to Republicans, they did a bang-up job. I’d hate to play a game of Risk with them. They’d redraw the map of the world so their opponents were all isolated in Alaska and could only attack them through Kamchatka. If you’re a Risk player, that’s a hysterically funny joke. If you’re not, well, trust me, gerrymandering is a bad, bad thing for democracy, no matter whose side it favors. (When they’ve done it, Democrats have been equally as wrong, in my view.) As defenders of democracy, the Michigan Supreme Court, one would think, should rule in favor of allowing a referendum to fix Michigan’s gerrymandered system. But, of course, they won’t. There are five Republicans on the court and only two Democrats. - What would be so wrong with an election map based on counties? Simple. Easy. Done.
- Swear to god, if my iPhone asks me ONE more time if I want to buy more space in “the cloud,” I’m going to feed it through a grinder. What other product essentially stops working and forces you to do something (in this case, press no) before you can continue using it? I don’t want my photos in the cloud, dammit. I don’t even know where this cloud is or what it does. For all I know, it could get stormy up there and rain photos of my kids all over the place. I don’t want that. I just want my damned cell phone to stop interrogating me.
- Don’t mind me. All tech devices are irritating me these days, and I don’t know why. My Kindle froze the other day and I pitched it off a wall, which probably didn’t help for next time. I’m switching back to paper books, newspapers and magazines anyway. They smell better and I’ve never once had one freeze on me.
- I think analog things like books, papers, magazines, radio, TV, record albums and such need a marketing makeover to make them popular again. They ought to rebrand as “reliable tech.”
- One more reason to hate Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg defended allowing Holocaust deniers to post misinformation on the platform because “I don’t think that they’re intentionally getting it wrong. … It’s hard to impugn intent and to understand the intent. I just think, as abhorrent as some of those examples are, I think the reality is also that I get things wrong when I speak publicly.” Say whaaaat?
- “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.” – most often attributed to Abraham Lincoln.
If trump had his way he would also change U.S. voting districts to include Russia. That way there would no doubt that they had an influence on our elections. Problem solved.
I appreciate your caution in attributing the ending quote to Lincoln. Quote Investigator thinks Maurice Switzer is the most likely author.
https://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/05/17/remain-silent/
Wait for it, “America is not a democracy, it’s a republic.”
Actually it is a “Democratic Republic.”
It’s actually a democracy.
Stand up carefully. Face the flag. Repeat the Pledge of Allegiance. Listen carefully. When did you hear the word “Democracy?”
Get out a dictionary, look up Democracy, read it carefully, then tell me that is not what we have in America.
Please do not fall into the group of confused people who do not understand the terms nor can give the definition if I ask for it.
You just weren’t paying attention in school were you.
Actually I was. It is very disheartening how ignorant so many Americans are. I thought you were one of the smarter ones, who was a least open to learning something. Thank you for showing me I was mistaken.
One more try…Democratic republic
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A democratic republic is a form of government operating on principles adopted from a republic and a democracy. Rather than being a cross between two entirely separate systems, democratic republics may function on principles shared by both republics and democracies.
“Likewise, James Wilson, one of the main drafters of the Constitution and one of the first Supreme Court Justices, defended the Constitution in 1787 by speaking of the three forms of government being the “monarchical, aristocratical, and democratical,” and said that in a democracy the sovereign power is “inherent in the people, and is either exercised by themselves or by their representatives.” And Chief Justice John Marshall — who helped lead the fight in the 1788 Virginia Convention for ratifying the U.S. Constitution — likewise defended the Constitution in that convention by describing it as implementing “democracy” (as opposed to “despotism”), and without the need to even add the qualifier “representative.””
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2015/05/13/is-the-united-states-of-america-a-republic-or-a-democracy/
I don’t think that politicians should have the power to re-draw district lines to make it beneficial for themselves. I find it to be a form of cheating. I agree that the lines could be drawn by county: simple, easy, done-as you say. But why make anything simple, easy, done? Everyone would be so totally confused!
My expectation of a Supreme Court Judge, either for a State or the United States Supreme Court
should leave their political affiliation out of their offices and chambers. They are to carefully weigh the evidence, they should have the quality of being impartial and fair, and conform to the quality of truth, fact or reason in order to give an authoritative opinion. They should not allow their political affiliation to direct the administration of law, or bow to political party leaders who expect the judges to rule along party lines.
Kamchatka rocks! As far as I know, our friend frequent poster Jim III learned his English at Kamchatka Community College. Experienced Risk players are nostalgic for the wooden cube armies and wooden lozenge divisions we had with our old Risk sets.
To take a page out of brads book, where are all the trumptards comments on the treasonist, communist, Putin loving idiot that they call and love as their King. Our pres is a joke and so are the trumptards that support him.
Come on boys where did you all go.? Heard the wonderful NRA is under investigation now for illegal campaign contributions? Anybody?
No matter what fred, jim says and socialists/Democrats say, the Constitution uses the word REPUBLIC. It does not imply democracy, socialism or communism. If any of the above say that they have read the Consitution and continue to deny that the word REPUBLIC means what it says. They will continue to insist that it means democracy/socialism.
Rome started out as a republic. Then over years it slowly devolved into a democracy, then it turned into a dictatorship style of government.
Venezuela had a republican form of government for years. Then the socialists/democrats ran for various offices and slowly won the offices they ran for. Now with Madero in office, they have a dictatorship.
Before socialists/democrats gained power the store shelves had many of the products that are on our current store shelves. There were no shortages. After the socialists/democrats gained power, the store shelves are basically bare. Toilet paper, most foods and other necessities are no longer readily available to the common populace. The elite socialists/democrats have all they want and need.
The general populace has resorted to eating the animals in the zoos and any other animal that can be eaten including cats and dogs. The citizens are fleeing the country as fast as they can. The neighboring countries are being flooded with refugees.
If socialism is such a great thing why are people trying to run away from that form of government instead of embracing it and encouraging people to move to such a country?
East Germany was a socialist state. they erected the Berlin wall in 1963 and created the frontier border between East and West Germany. The barriers were not built to keep out NATO troops. They were built to keep the East Germans from escaping to West Germany. If the East German citizens were caught trying to escape over the border they were fired upon by the border guards. IF captured alive they were sent to prison.
But you have a president that sides with a murdering ex KGB agent dictator communist ruler that is invited to the White House. His own intelligence director about fell off his chair in an interview with the news media when he found out. You really shouldn’t worry whether this country is a republic or a democracy. You should worry about the idiot in charge.
democracy
(dɪmɒkrəsi )
Word forms: democracies
1. uncountable noun
Democracy is a system of government in which people choose their rulers by voting for them in elections.
The spread of democracy in Eastern Europe appears to have had negative as well as positive consequences.
2. countable noun
A democracy is a country in which the people choose their government by voting for it.
Word forms: republics
countable noun
A republic is a country where power is held by the people or the representatives that they elect. Republics have presidents who are elected, rather than kings or queens.
In 1918, Austria became a republic.
…the Baltic republics.
For those of you who are still confused, I’ll spell it out for you. Our COUNTRY is a republic. Our system of government is called DEMOCRACY.
OldUgly, “To the republic for which it stands”, could be changed to “to our country for which it stands”. I hope that clears it up.
The references to “republic” in the constitution are referring to our country with a formal term.
Remember China and North Korea are both officially named “Republic of China” and “Republic of North Korea”, but they both utilize a totalitarian or communist system of government. Their rulers are elected, although not fairly. Then that ruler has supreme authority over the entire republic with no checks or balances, because their republics are not democracies.
Those of you insisting that Anerica is not a democracy, what are you trying to say? That the people dont have a voice ?
By reading the definitions that Fred has posted, he is using definitions that can into being during the 20th century. The definitions listed above are not the definitions that the writers of the Constitution used in the 1780’s.
If a country uses the words “democracy, Socialist” along with the word Republic in its name, does not have a true republican form of government. They have a socialist/communistic government. That is where there a lot of shortages in the stores and other places but, the individual is not free. His/her choices in what they will do in life is not decided by the individual, but by some nameless bureaucrat. There is no freedom of movement. The individual cannot move from one part of the country to another without filling out paperwork explaining why they want to move. The government can arrest you without probable cause. You might have a show trial or no trial at all. You cannot own your own private property. Your property belongs to the state. You cannot own or have in your possession any kind of gun.
If you criticize the leaders of the nation you will be sent off to a re-education camp. Quite possibly for the rest of your life.
Stalin made a quote like this: Vote? yes, you can vote, but remember it does not matter who you vote for, it is the person who counts the ballots determines the outcome.
If America becomes a democracy, it will be a short step away from a dictatorship.
America is and always was since winning our independence, a republic with a democracy form of government.
Republic merely means the ruler was elected in some fashion. He could had a been elected by 5 people or 100 people, or by just the ruling party.
Iraq under Saddam Hussein was a republic. He was elected each time by only the people in his party who were allowed to vote.
Nazi Germany was republic. Only the Nazi party was allowed to vote.
All the Kims of North Korea, same story.
Vladimir Putin meddles in his elections just like he does in ours, to make sure he wins overwhelmingly each time.
In other words the people in these countries do not truly elect their leaders like they do here. The reason for that is, they are not democracies, like America is.
Republic simply means any country where the leaders are elected, as opposed to appointed or born into it. That leader can be a complete tyrant who rigs the elections and refuses to step down after his term is up. As long as he was elected, the country is a republic. When he appoints his son or daughter to succeed him, the republic becomes a monarchy.
Jimmy the Third: You have it utterly, completely, factually wrong! Rome was a Republic, and then it turned into an Empire.
Athens was a Democracy, for a while. You, Jim III, do not know beans about anything. Please stop posting your lies and ignorance here.
The USA is both a Republic and a Democracy, but the words do not matter. Parsing definitions yields nothing, in this situation. Dippity-Dip-Dee-Dip, you fool.
Oh ya I am still waiting on the trumptards to defend the asshole.
The more the democrat/socialist bash President Trump the stronger his base is getting. He is getting things done. I listen to CNN, ABC News and other liberal/socialist newscasts and then I go to other sources and listen to what they say. The differences are different.
FOX news does not automatically support everything President Trump does. If they feel that he is on the wrong track, they will say so. With CNN and other stations of that ilk, it is always a negative view of anything that President Trump does. When obama was sworn in a lot of liberals thought that he would stop global warming and stop the ocean levels from rising etc….
If President Trump were to stop global warming and the ocean levels from rising the liberals/socialists would find fault with him doing that. There is no way that they will give President Trump a good review.
In listening to the DNC leaders and other Democrats in Congress. They have no message but hate. They have no plan or an idea of what to do for the country. They seem to be stuck on at
one primary thing: attack anyone that does not fall down and whorship the democrat plan. If you do not agree with what they are pontificating then you are an enemy of the democrat/socialists.
At the present time, the Democrats do not have anything to offer.
What things is he getting done?
I wonder that myself. He’s done nothing but screw this counry up so bad it will take years to straighten it out. The world is laughing at us big time.