And To The Republic

I don’t know if they are doing it on purpose, or if they really don’t know.  Our President and elected officials I am talking about.

If you are like millions of Americans who have trouble sleeping at night I have a great exercise for you in the wee hours of the morning.  Instead of watching re-runs of Friends, why don’t you grab a piece of paper and a pencil and settle in front of your TV and take your own poll.  As you flip around the news channels listen to the interviews with those elected to govern us.  Instead of counting how many times they lie (not enough lead in your pencil) keep a tally of how many times you hear them mention the word “democracy.”  For me it has begun to rival fingers scraping the chalkboard.  The sound of that word makes me cringe.

America is not now, nor has it ever been a democracy.  Most people don’t know that, and as a result we are acting more and more like one.  The president speaks about our “great democracy”, congressional leaders repeat the mantra that elections speak volumes in “our democracy”.   Are they stupid, or deceptive?  Both, I’m sure, but allow me to clear the air.

Perhaps you are familiar with the Pledge of Allegiance.  If I can be so condescending, allow me quote it.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Notice that America is a republic, not a democracy.

What’s the difference?  Nice of you to ask.

Democracy---Government by the people; especially: rule of the majority b : a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly involving periodically held free elections.

In his book “The Unseen Hand” A. Ralph Epperson says:  “It is generally conceded that even a monarchy or a dictatorship is an oligarchy, or a government run by a small, ruling minority. Such is also the case with a democracy, for this form of government is traditionally controlled at the top by a small ruling oligarchy. The people in a democracy are conditioned to believe that they are indeed the decision-making power of government, but in truth there is almost always a small circle at the top making the decisions for the entirety."

Ben Franklin said,  "Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch.  When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic. 

What did Winston Churchill think about democracy?  “The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.” (I wonder if he was in a labor union?)

Karl Marx told us “Democracy is the road to socialism.”  It has been a long and winding road to where we are today.  

Okay Coach, so what is a Republic, you ask?

According to Webster’s unabridged Dictionary,  a republic is “A form of government in which supreme power resides in a body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by elected officers and representatives responsible to them and governing according to law."

A republic is a government based on the rule of law.  In the Republican form of government, the power rests in a written Constitution, wherein the powers of government are limited so that the people retain the maximum amount of power themselves. In addition to limiting the power of government, care is also taken to limit the power of the people to restrict the rights of both the majority and the minority.

What is the law upon which the American Republic rests?  The US Constitution is the framework that keeps government powers in check.  The Law is Supreme and the people can change America only by changing the laws.  The Constitution provides the framework in which that change may occur.  Want to make abortion legal?  Change the law.  The Constitution clearly spells out how it must be done, and the courts can’t do it.

In his farewell address George Washington said, "If in the opinion of the people, the distribution or modification of the Constitutional power be in any particular wrong, let it be corrected by an amendment in the way in which the Constitutional designates.  But, let there by no change by usurpation, for though this, in one instance, may be the instrument of good, it is the customary weapon by which free governments are destroyed."

As Washington warned, the powers of self-government have been usurped away from the people.  America is now an oligarchy.

So, what’s an oligarchy? (Boy your public-school education is really showing).  According to dictionary.com an oligarchy is a form of government in which all power is vested in a few persons or in a dominant class or clique; government by the few.

Pure Democracy leads to oligarchy.

Oligarchy leads to tyranny. (I know you’ve heard of that before, but tyranny is something that only happens in European countries someone told you).  Better go back to the dictionary.

Tyranny is a form of government in which the ruler is an absolute dictator (not restricted by a constitution or laws or opposition etc.)

So who is responsible for the tyranny?  Well, we all are because we no longer follow the Constitution, teach the Constitution, or obey the Constitution.  In fact, I’ve had lawyers tell me that they never studied the Constitution in law school.  Instead they studied the decisions of courts….a judge’s opinion of what the Constitution said.  Stare Decisis is the law of the land…..previously decided cases…opinions of judges…..not based on the Constitution.

Because of that America has slipped into Krytocracy.  (I suppose that wasn’t on the 12^th grade proficiency test, was it?  Let’s see if we can find that in No Child Getting Ahead.)

Krytocracy is “government ruled by judges.  Judgements in a krytocracy are arrived at by the personal opinions of the judge.”  Our courts are out of whack, our judges are all powerful, the will of the people is meaningless.

Job 9:24, “When a land falls into the hands of the wicked, He blindfolds it’s judges.”

Isaiah 59:14-15, “Justice is turned back, And righteousness stands afar off; For truth is fallen in the street, And equity cannot enter.  So truth fails, And he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. Then the Lord saw it and it displeased Him that there was no justice.”

Hmmm.  So what is justice?  “The upholding of what is just, especially fair treatment and due reward in accordance with honor, standards, or law.”

Ezek 20:24-25 “Because they had not executed my judgments, but had despised my statutes, and had polluted my sabbaths, and their eyes were after their fathers' idols. Wherefore I gave them also statutes that were not good, and judgments whereby they should not live.

No wonder America is in a mess. 

Feel stupid?  Don’t.  Hardly anybody cares about this stuff any more.  Wanna learn more?  Wanna make a difference?  Then go here.  If not, go watch TV.

Hosea 4:6.  “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.

“If you want to live ignorant and free, you want what never was and never will be.”

By Coach Dave Daubenmire Email: coach@ptsalt.com Click here for bio and archived articles