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> but members of the (U.S.) public had their say when they voted for their President, Senators and Congressfolk. That's not how it works. If it was, we'd have
by imron 11y ago
> but members of the (U.S.) public had their say when they voted for their President, Senators and Congressfolk.
That's not how it works. If it was, we'd have SOPA, but we don't.
Citizens telling their representatives what they do and don't want is fundamental aspect of a well-functioning democracy.
- dragonwriter 11y agoAgreed, there are few more harmful concepts to a representative democracy, especially one with as poor of an electoral system as the US, but any representative democracy as well, as the idea that citizen input begins and ends with voting. It's like saying a boss's input on an employee's work is limited to hiring and firing.
- twoodfin 11y agoAnd no trade agreement has ever become law without months of Congressional hearings and debate. The proposed version of TPA would guarantee at least two, and at least four is what's likely. So what's the point again?
- EliRivers 11y agoWell then, the only conclusion is that by design you don't have this well-functioning democracy. The people at the top certainly don't think they should listen. RECENTLY, when Vice-President Cheney was asked by ABC News correspondent Martha Raddatz about polls showing that an overwhelming majority of US citizens oppose the war in Iraq, he replied, "So?" "So — you don't care what the American people think?" Raddatz asked. "No," Cheney replied, and explained, "I think you cannot be blown off course by the fluctuations in public opinion polls." Later, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino, explaining Cheney's comments, was asked whether the public should have "input." Her reply: "You had your input. The American people have input every four years, and that's the way our system is set up." That's correct. Every four years the American people can choose between candidates whose views they reject, and then they should shut up. http://www.chomsky.info/articles/20080403.htm http://www.chomsky.info/articles/20080403.htm
- imron 11y ago> Well then, the only conclusion is that by design you don't have this well-functioning democracy Yes. I would agree that the US is not a well-functioning democracy.