Gas prices in California...

[teemu]

Ah, democracy. Where people have the freedom to participate in decision making but prefer instead to whine about the decisions made by others. And as an excuse for non-participation, the old conspiracy chestnut is given a run around the park.

We are a Republic,not a Democracy

We are a Constitutional Republic! If our leaders actually followed our Constitution,we wouldn't have alot of the problems we have today

a Democracy is where 51% can take away the rights of the 49%...its Two Wolves and a Sheep voting on what's for dinner...as Our Founding father's hated a Democracy.A Democracy is not even mentioned one time in our Constitution.

In a republic the sovereignty is in each individual person. In a democracy, the sovereignty is in the group.We are born with God given rights that cannot be taken away..

remember this? I pledge allegience to the flag.................and TO THE REPUBLIC FOR WHICH IT STANDS!

 

[BadMoon]

It's kind of bizarre that a person's sexual orientation, religious views, ethnicity, etc. can all be more of a factor in public voting than their experience and ability to do the job well if elected.

I don't see how it's bizarre? Ones religious beliefs for example can make them a bigot. Therefore my vote that doesn't matter anyways won't go to that fool. Talking to you Santorum. When ones own personal views interfere with their ability to lead, that's a problem.

 

[Lejuan]

We are a Republic,not a Democracy

We are a Constitutional Republic! If our leaders actually followed our Constitution,we wouldn't have alot of the problems we have today

a Democracy is where 51% can take away the rights of the 49%...its Two Wolves and a Sheep voting on what's for dinner...as Our Founding father's hated a Democracy.A Democracy is not even mentioned one time in our Constitution.

In a republic the sovereignty is in each individual person. In a democracy, the sovereignty is in the group.We are born with God given rights that cannot be taken away..

remember this? I pledge allegience to the flag.................and TO THE REPUBLIC FOR WHICH IT STANDS!

Yeah, right. But you still have a representative system of government, so semantics and pure definitions aside, you've cast a vote to install in government someone to make decisions on your behalf. If you don't like what they're doing, you can vote them out. Or you can stand for election yourself. Simples. But admittedly not as simples as whining about it.

 

[karamazov80]

"Democracy" is a pretty nebulous term. It has meant different things in different periods of time by different people in different contexts. In common usage, republics as Teemu is referring to them are frequently subsumed under the broader term of "democracy." "Pure," direct democracy wouldn't function very well, of course. Closest thing we have in the real world is in your occasional referendum vote. Which we do have here in the US.

Also, the Constitution is vague and open to interpretation. Intentionally so, if you believe the Federalist Papers and hear most Constitutional law scholars and Supreme Court Justices talk of it. So, whether or not our leaders today are "following the Constitution" or not is not particularly cut-and-dry, IMO. Though I doubt many of them care one way or the other so long as they get elected and re-elected.

 

[plastic_addiction]

I only pledge my allegiance to 18-20 year-old girls and $1.00 double cheeseburgers. And yes, when I come across an African-American lesbian atheist I will nominate her for leader of the world. She will, within the first three months of her reign, make gas $2.00 a gallon. She will also make sure that we have pockets full of birth control pills so we can have as much sex as possible. Furthermore, she will see to it that gay marriage is legal, that way Benjamin Netanyahu and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad can finally get married and end the conflict in the Middle East.

 

[teemu]

Yeah, right. But you still have a representative system of government, so semantics and pure definitions aside, you've cast a vote to install in government someone to make decisions on your behalf. If you don't like what they're doing, you can vote them out. Or you can stand for election yourself. Simples. But admittedly not as simples as whining about it.

Not really

Your Vote is an Illusion

Presidents are selected,not Elected

The true chance of change is voting on the State levels,anything Federal is a farce!

 

[teemu]

I only pledge my allegiance to 18-20 year-old girls and $1.00 double cheeseburgers. And yes, when I come across an African-American lesbian atheist I will nominate her for leader of the world. She will, within the first three months of her reign, make gas $2.00 a gallon. She will also make sure that we have pockets full of birth control pills so we can have as much sex as possible. Furthermore, she will see to it that gay marriage is legal, that way Benjamin Netanyahu and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad can finally get married and end the conflict in the Middle East.

Degenerates will always vote for Degenerates

 

[teemu]

"Democracy" is a pretty nebulous term. It has meant different things in different periods of time by different people in different contexts. In common usage, republics as Teemu is referring to them are frequently subsumed under the broader term of "democracy." "Pure," direct democracy wouldn't function very well, of course. Closest thing we have in the real world is in your occasional referendum vote. Which we do have here in the US.

Also, the Constitution is vague and open to interpretation. Intentionally so, if you believe the Federalist Papers and hear most Constitutional law scholars and Supreme Court Justices talk of it. So, whether or not our leaders today are "following the Constitution" or not is not particularly cut-and-dry, IMO. Though I doubt many of them care one way or the other so long as they get elected and re-elected.

While a Democracy is not even mentioned in our constitution...

Our Forefathers had this to say about a Democracy

"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote!" -- Benjamin Franklin, leader of the American Revolution

"We are a Republican Government. Real liberty is never found in despotism or in the extremes of Democracy... It has been observed that a pure democracy if it were practicable would be the most perfect government. Experience has proved that no position is more false than this. The ancient democracies in which the people themselves deliberated never possessed one good feature of government. Their very character was tyranny; their figure deformity." -- Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury to George Washington, author of the Federalist Papers

"Democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide."
-- John Adams, 2nd President of the United States

"A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine." -- Thomas Jefferson, 3rd President of the United States, author of the Bill of Rights

"Democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their death. -- James Madison, 4th President of the United States, Father of the Constitution

"The experience of all former ages had shown that of all human governments, democracy was the most unstable, fluctuating and short-lived." -- John Quincy Adams, 6th President of the United States

"Between a balanced republic and a democracy, the difference is like that between order and chaos."
-- John Marshall, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, 1801-1835

 

[plastic_addiction]

I am the worst kind of degenerate. I am a degenerate college professor that spreads my degenerate worldview to hundreds of students every semester. You have to love higher education.

 

[KitFisto]

I don't see how it's bizarre? Ones religious beliefs for example can make them a bigot. Therefore my vote that doesn't matter anyways won't go to that fool. Talking to you Santorum. When ones own personal views interfere with their ability to lead, that's a problem.

Wow, you're friends with bigots I guess.

 

[Centurion]

So now this thread is about more than just gas prices.

 

[OK SITHLORD]

So now this thread is about more than just gas prices.

I think most of us can keep it civil, gas does have many strings attached to it.

 

[KitFisto]

My comment directed to Badmoon is because I personally know him. His statement that religious beliefs can make someone a bigot is directed at anyone with strong beliefs such as myself. If he chooses to call me a bigot because I trust and believe the Word of God then so be it. I was just saying that I guess he's friends with people ( at least one ) he thinks of as a bigot.

 

[Blackthornone]

Sorry, I don't believe that story. The guy's name is David Gregory if you can't get that simple fact correct, I don't believe the rest of what you say.

No, not David Gregory- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Gregory_(journalist)


Di ck Gregory- https://www.dickgregory.com/

 

[BadMoon]

My comment directed to Badmoon is because I personally know him. His statement that religious beliefs can make someone a bigot is directed at anyone with strong beliefs such as myself. If he chooses to call me a bigot because I trust and believe the Word of God then so be it. I was just saying that I guess he's friends with people ( at least one ) he thinks of as a bigot.

If the word of god tells you to hate and condem people for being different then yes I see a bigot. If the word of god tells you to love all people and grant them respect regardless of their beliefs then I'm all for it. Religous beliefs can breed hate. Just look at the middle east. My father was extremely "religous". He called himself a christian. He also called blacks the N word, called gays ___s, and would never stand for a woman preacher. I learned many lessons from him. The biggest one is I will never hate the way he did.

 

[Mr. Green]

So now this thread is about more than just gas prices.

I am surprise mod still haven't close this thread yet.

 

[KitFisto]

If the word of god tells you to hate and condem people for being different then yes I see a bigot. If the word of god tells you to love all people and grant them respect regardless of their beliefs then I'm all for it. Religous beliefs can breed hate. Just look at the middle east. My father was extremely "religous". He called himself a christian. He also called blacks the N word, called gays ___s, and would never stand for a woman preacher. I learned many lessons from him. The biggest one is I will never hate the way he did.

I don't hate anyone, BUT I also call a sin a sin. There are people that would call me a bigot because I do so.

I respect people and don't hate or put them down, but as I said I will call a sin a sin. If someone asks me is a specific action is sinful and if the Word of God says it is then I will say YES....it is.

I have been called a bigot directly for that.

 

[BadMoon]

I don't see how it's bizarre? Ones religious beliefs for example can make them a bigot. Therefore my vote that doesn't matter anyways won't go to that fool. Talking to you Santorum. When ones own personal views interfere with their ability to lead, that's a problem.

Wow, you're friends with bigots I guess.

Read what I wrote. Not what you rush to judgement on. I did not say religion makes people a bigot. I'm saying certain religions "can" and do breed bigots. If your religion is such then yes I guess you are a bigot.

 

[BadMoon]

I don't hate anyone, BUT I also call a sin a sin. There are people that would call me a bigot because I do so.

I respect people and don't hate or put them down, but as I said I will call a sin a sin. If someone asks me is a specific action is sinful and if the Word of God says it is then I will say YES....it is.

I have been called a bigot directly for that.

God as I see him/her would never pass judgement on anyone. If God passes judgement on people for their own personal preferences or beliefs I will fight along side with anyone that opposes said God.

That said any God isn't going to lower gas prices so I would like someone in office who is less worried about their own personal beliefs and more worried about leading this country.

 

[Jen]

I am surprise mod still haven't close this thread yet.

As long as it remains civil. As someone else mentioned, gas prices are tied into a lot of different things....but as long as everything remains respectful, I see no reason why it needs to be closed.