What's the difference between a democracy and a republic?

[hippifried]

Yeah yeah yeah... So why is he a republican?

These are the policies of his party that have been maintained for over a half century. Since before he ever joined. All this perpetual war nonsense was institutionalized by President Eisenhower. (what a piece of shit that asshole was) The center of the party platform is expansion of the military, American hegemony, corporate control of government, & higher levels of government control & interference in the lives & choices of individuals. He claims to be exactly the opposite of his chosen party. The party he claims to represent. There's something wrong with this picture.

On the unlikely chance that he could get into the presidency, he can't do what he's promising. The President isn't that powerful now, despite the incredible arrogance we're seeing from the current administration. No President could pull that kind of change off by himself without subverting the Constitution even more than anyone has ever dreamed of. All these things require action by Congress. He's a member of Congress, has been during control by both parties, & has never been able to push any legislation through.

This guy's long on ego & rhetoric, but he's sorely lacking when it comes to actually being able to accomplish anything or even having a clue how to do it. He's a couple tacos light of a combination plate. Got you buffaloed though. & you're calling me foolish. You can't do a damn thing if you can't work the system.

I'd just as soon see the CIA disbanded. The patriot act will probably sunset all by itself. The current administration will all be permanently on the golf course in a year. I'd like to see the Marines & Airforce pared way down & put under the direction of a shrunken Navy. I'd like to see the Army cut to bare minimum of command & control & an expansion of the reserves just to keep a ready force in case of emergency. I'm not a fan of tarriffs. I certainly don't like value added taxes. The income tax is the only way to progressively tax those who can afford to pay by ability to pay. Capital gains should be taxed as income. If you don't like it, amend the Constitution. The income tax is part of the document. I was involved in both the antiwar movement & the drug subculture of the late '60s & early '70s. I've seen the police state. It's been here for a while. None of this is new. Ron Paul is not going to be President of the United States. My concern now is making sure John McCain doesn't either. He's a shill for the pentagon. I'm sick of the war mentality & the paranoia I see all around me. I'm also sick of the ideologues & incompetents. All I want for President is someone who can pragmatically handle problems as they come up & effectively manage the daily affairs of the government. That's what the President is supposed to do.

[El Nino]

What are you on drugs man? What the hell have you been smoking? Don't you know that Ron Paul is a Traditionalist/Jeffersonian Republican? You shouldn't talk shit about Ron Paul if you are not educated about him or his message. The Republicans you speak of nowadays are Neoconservatives. They have COMPLETELY taken over the party and given it a horrible reputation. They are war hawks, nation-builders and anti-Constitution. Ron Paul even FREQUENTLY talks about how his party has been stolen and he's the only one true to his party on the stage...

TRUE REPUBLICANISM encourages a non-interventionist, humble foreign policy and discourages war and big-government with excessive mandates and laws on the people. Ron Paul stands out from all these Neo-con criminals and phonies. You wrote, "He claims to be exactly the opposite of his chosen party. The party he claims to represent. There's something wrong with this picture."
NO, he is the only one who represents the party, all the others represent the opposite. Rediscover history my friend, you're just being foolish here and spewing literal diarrhea from your fingertips...

Ron Paul wants to restore the party, give power to the people, get rid of government corruption and have liberty prosper once again. It is people like you who don't understand the full scope and are quick to judge him, that are an impediment to true freedom. Don't think it can happen scum? The freedom movement is gaining so much momentum that it won't even matter if the MSM smearing works out and he doesn't become President. The message will prevail regardless and destroy the disinformation machine and transform the disinformed like yourself. Power to the People

P.S. It is dangerously naive of you to think that these draconian laws like the "Patriot" Acts 1 and 2 etc, will expire by themselves. Don't you know about absolute corruption? I suggest you don't post again unless you know what you are talking about

[El Nino]

BTW, responding to factual rebuttals by only writing "yeah yeah yeah" is fucking stupid. Also, the income tax IS in fact a tax that there is NO law for. Lastly, I don't know why you don't like Ron Paul a little more "Hippifried"? He's the only candidate that wants to stop sending marijuana users to prison!

[hippifried]

There it is. Didn't take more than a couple of posts to shift the focus of the debate to a personal attack on me. Such predictable behavior from those without arguments of their own. Go ahead, I can take it. I've heard all the parroted cliches before. Everybody's ignorant except you, right?

Oh by the way: Jefferson was the first president to demand the power to make war on foreign nations without declaration. He started "the war on terror".

[El Nino]

You've already lost this one chief...

[hippifried]

How?

[Rogers]

Keeping it simple, a republic just means that there is no hereditary leader or monarch. A democracy just means that all or a certain subset of the population gets to have a say who becomes the leader through competitive elections. The United Kingdom has universal suffrage but has a monarch as its head of state. This makes the U.K. a democracy but not a republic. The United States also has universal suffrage but no monarch, this makes the U.S. a republic AND a democracy.

P.S. Ron Paul? Withdrawal from NATO and the U.N.... what kind of shit is that? How's the U.S. going to project its power around the globe with any shred of legitimacy if that happens, especially with Russia, China, and India on the rise, never mind tackling climate change as it worsens this century and the threats it will pose to national security? If libertarianism ruled in the U.S. most (if not all) of the world would now be speaking German or Japanese, and the Jews and Slavs would have been exterminated a long time ago. Like it or not, you just can't ignore others and do whatever you like in life, because sooner or later someone will not only be banging on your door but kicking it in. There's the way life is, and the way life should be. Competition and war (a form of inter-specific competition) are key drivers of evolution and therefore integral components in the "equation" of life.

The Man in the High Castle
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_in_the_High_Castle

[El Nino]

Yeah OK buddy... and the UN is an altruistic entity too... Actually they are PURE EVIL

[Rogers]

Yeah OK buddy... and the UN is an altruistic entity too... Actually they are PURE EVIL

Seems you dodged NATO, El Nino, can you at least cite examples to back up your assertion about the UN then?

[skybuddha]

We are destroying our economy to bring "democracy" to the middle-east???

I have to disagree with that. Oil is so important to civilisation right now, that when the oil runs out nobody will give a rats ass what happens in the middle east. Democracy within the American sphere of influence is not opposed however its simply a smokescreen if used as a core reason for invasion in my opinion.