‘A Republic — if You can Keep it’
“Well, Doctor, what have we got? A Republic or Monarchy?” – Elizabeth Willing Powel
“A Republic — if you can keep it.” – Benjamin Franklin
Sep 12, 1787
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Why is Democracy seen by the Republican Party as part of the political problem and no longer the Lincolnian “government of the people” solution in a Nation now approaching 250 years of being the foremost Republic in the history of mankind?
In January, 2021, a Trump mob of angry white men took to the Capitol ramparts to stop the transition of political power by force.
Why? Because the clock is ticking.
Just this past week, Trump begged a white evangelical Christian assembly to come out and vote for him in November and when he wins they won’t have to come out and vote ever again.
No interpretation required.
The Republican Project 2025 would dismantle more than one -hundred and sixty years of bi partisan, inclusive policies that made America the greatest Democracy in the history of the world — in large part by empowering women and people of color, and lifting those in the margins of life. As Lincoln said —removing all artificial impediments from the shoulders of the people.
But not all our countrymen agree. The truth is the Republicans are a political party in disarray, and in a hurry. They have become by any measure a White Power Party. They are in a hurry because they can no longer win a national plurality of the votes; having won that vote only once since 1988.
The Electoral College(EC) is keeping the White Power party in the game. They are hanging on by an EC thread or two (Texas, Georgia, Florida) which inevitably will go purple. Then the EC won’t work. Their situation is desperate.
The white non-Hispanic population percentage of the whole is declining. It went from 64% to 58% from 2010 to 2020. A white minority is predicted sooner than 2050.
Democracy no longer works for the White Power Party. Hence all the micro measures to buy time, to suppress or delegitimize the vote, and employ arcane statutes and unaccountable local powers that hearken back to days of yore.
So, Democracy is not a long term solution for Republicans as long as they pursue a white majority that is dwindling. They know this; thus, their reverence for autocracy of any stripe …. Russian , Chinese , North Korean, Hungarian. They have to re-write the rules of the road in Project 2025 to begin the road to autocracy.
This 2024 election has taken an unexpected turn. Politics and history march to their own drums.
Knowing the Democrats were not on pace with President Biden to win a significant popular vote victory, Trump was confident of an Electoral College landslide — despite losing the popular vote. That is no longer the case.
Vice President Harris has in a short time changed the game. The key to her success is a surge in turnout of independents, young voters, first time voters, women in general, and all people of color.
There is evidence in the early going that the game is afoot.
Bernard ‘Bernie’ Kenny of Hoboken served as state senator of the 33rd District from 1993-2008.
“The essence of Democracy is who we are” said Joe Biden recently. Many have made similar statements.
But the fact is that Democracy is NOT the
essence of who we are. Those saying this only prove little knowledge or the basic understanding of true American history.
Sadly, most members of Congress and many many Americans so not understand this.
1. America is a Republic, not a democracy.
No where is it implied that our Constitution created a democracy. It does not. It did establish a Republic with very limited power in the federal government.
The last thing our Founders wanted was a democracy. James Madison, the main author of the Constitution, wrote: “Democracy is the most vile form of government.” And “the purpose of the Constitution is to restrict the majority’s ability to harm a minority.” Contrary to establishing a democracy, Madison said our Constitution was designed specifically to protect against it!
But I doubt that our congressional leaders or the American public know this.
2. Biden’s statement is wrong because the Democrat Party not only doesn’t believe in a Republic, they don’t believe in democracy, either. The Democrat Party is trying to create a totalitarian government where all power is centralized.
In a democracy (Greek for “rule by the people”) and in a republic (Latin for “things of the people”), the governments power comes from the people and thus is (supposed to be) limited by what the people allow it to do.
“To secure these natural, God-given rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,” Jefferson wrote in America’s Declaration of Independence.
In a Republic (and a democracy), the people choose their own rulers. In a totalitarian system, the government chooses the leaders.
Democrats have been using the power of government for the last eight years via the Justice Department to try to deprive half of the American people of their “democratic” right to vote for the candidate of their choice.
Democrats have applied the force of government to attempt to prevent Donald Trump from becoming the next President. That isn’t democracy. It’s tyranny. It is the exercise of government power to allow the “Party,” not the people, to decide who will serve.
Every time a member of the Democrat Party says the word “democracy,” they are being hypocritical, for such is the last thing they have been truly practicing.
In a democracy, all citizens (theoretically) are to be equal under the law (as in a republic). That doesn’t mean everybody has the same rights. We don’t, never have, and never will give babies the right to vote. But their natural rights (of which voting is not one) are protected unless (per the Left) they are still in the womb. According to Democrats, the right to life doesn’t exist until you are born, not when you start living at conception. However, equality under the law is supposed to be a cardinal doctrine of people-controlled societies, governments “of, by, and for” the people.
It’s totalitarian governments that give special privileges to certain favored classes. Don’t call that “democratic” equality under the law. You could call it “tyranny,” and our Founding Fathers no doubt would.
Things like DEI are the main reason our Founders did NOT establish a democracy. The problem, as they saw it, was that, in a democracy, the “people” don’t rule; only the majority does.
50%+1 equals a democratic majority. Thus, if 50%+1 of the people decide to deny 50%-1 of their rights, then that’s democracy. It may not be fair, just, or right, but it’ is not undemocratic.
It’s happening in America right now. Its tyrannical nature has become the essence of what the Democratic Party has become.
America was supposed to be a limited government, virtuous republic, not a democracy. A republic where:
The federal government is limited by a Constitution that specifically defines the powers that can be exercised
A federal government of checks and balances so that no branch of government can gain too much control
A federal government with frequent elections so that tyrants can be removed before they destroy the country
A republic where the vast majority of the governmental power was to reside in the hands of the states (read the 10th Amendment), and if one of those states tyrannically exercised its powers, you have 49 others to choose from.
Our Founders knew exactly what they were doing, and establishing democracy as “the essence of who we are” was NOT what they did. Their wisdom is abundantly evident today.
if only more people understood our country’s foundation.
This is an opinion that rings divisive.
Independent voters, young and old, all genders, all colors and creed and those precious first time voters are hungry for respect and a sense of unity.
Our First President warned of a two party system having the great potential of destroying our Republic.
Vote Independent.
Vote RFK JR.
Listen to his unity message #Kennedy/Unity
We have other choices.
Freedom of thought is our greatest gift.
edit. # UNITE AMERICA
Bernard Kenny was/is a Democrat. That’s really all we need to know. Democrats are the Party of Death and Destruction (abortion & violence to win elections; and destroy the nation for their own power grab).
Just look at how the Democrats staged a coup in their own party. They made Biden their main choice, and kicked out RFK, Jr. Then when Biden was exposed for the mentally incapacitated moron that he is, the Democrats took out Biden with threats, and then installed Kabala Harris–ignoring 14 MILLION voters who voted Biden. Now they are trying to steal party money and give it to Harris, when she’s NOT EVEN THE NOMINEE!!!!! This is how communist dictatorships like Venezuela, Cuba and Brazil operate their elections.
So, Kenny’s attacks on Trump & MAGA ring hollow as they are not based in facts, but based on dehumanizing and inflammatory rhetoric that inspires violence and attempted assassinations by Democrat operatives.
Yes, the shooter in Butler Pennsylvania that attempted to assassinate President Trump is a Biden supporter, his mother is a registered Democrat, and he had 3 encrypted money accounts from overseas.
Judge ruled that RFK JR. will be on the ballot in NJ.
There is a reason why so many are trying to keep him off. Politics is a very dirty business. And he will fight for the weak and disfranchised in the same way he will fight to restore the middle class. And he will do it with a unifying message of hope.
Edit: disenfranchised
AEG: You were correct. Disfranchise is actually a word. Same definition as disenfranchise. Disfranchise is a synonym of disenfranchise.
I have heard before that our government is a republic and not a democracy. This is, in essence, incorrect. The structure of our government is a republic but that references its structure only. The foundation underneath the republic is democracy. How is this so?
In a republic, the representatives could be selected in any manner. They could be appointed by a dictator and still maintain a structure that is still a republic in name but not function. For example, countries like Russia where only the state sponsored candidates run and therefore are elected to the Duma. Is this a republic? In structure it is, in essence it is not because it does not represent the will of the people.
When we talk about a republic, ours is rooted in the Locke-ian principle of the ‘consent of the governed’ in which the founders were firmly in agreement to the point that the phrase appears in the Declaration of Independence, which was agreed to by the Continental Congress. To say that the founders were anti-democracy is a misrepresentation. They did place a few intervening structures in between the people and direct election of certain office holders in order to temper popular passions. But over time they have been removed and the only one remaining is the Electoral College.
Let’s look further into our congress. The House of Representatives must be directly elected by the people and cannot, under any circumstances, be appointed. The same situation exists with the Senate, where Senators are now directly elected by the people, although temporary appointments can be made in the case of a vacancy. This is the essence of our republic: representatives elected by the people. Hence, democracy. Not a pure democracy but Locke-ian democracy.
Even the preamble refers to ‘We the People’. Why does this matter? This sets the basic foundation that this republic is Locke-ian in nature.
So, please re-think the idea that our government is a republic and not a democracy. A republic not based upon democracy violates the principle of the ‘consent of the governed’ and is illegitimate. Only democracy makes our republic legitimate and consistent with the constitution created by the founders.
#1 Peter Z:
Madison did not say “Democracy is the most vile form of government.” That’s a fake quote. He supported representative democracy, as described in Federalist #10.