Thread: Common sense, what do you think?

This is becoming the same tired argument about the English language. Waa, waaa, waaa. Awww you speak English so you insist everyone around you do the same. Poor babies. As there is no official language in this country, the spoken language will simply have to be the language spoken by the community. Now I guess it can be real scary if someone moves into the house next to you and doesn't look or act just like you. Well, someone alot more bigoted then I said, "There goes the neighborhood".

Oh, and Denmason, regarding this statement:
Umm, the United States is a Republic not a Democracy
Not that I care to get into some lame semantic argument with you but if you are suggesting the two are mutually exclusive, you are wrong. The United States is both and what does that have to do with anything anyway?

Originally Posted by icedog

Oh, and Denmason, regarding this statement:
Umm, the United States is a Republic not a Democracy
Not that I care to get into some lame semantic argument with you but if you are suggesting the two are mutually exclusive, you are wrong. The United States is both and what does that have to do with anything anyway?

You can not be both. (Art. 4, Sec. 4) of the Constitution: " No state may join the United States unless it is a Republic." The Republic is one dedicated to "liberty and justice for all." Minority individual rights are the priority of a republic. People are protected by the Bill of Rights from the majority. One vote in a jury can stop all of the majority from depriving any one of the people of his rights; this would not be so if the United States were a democracy.
In a democracy there is no minority rights except civil rights granted by a majority. So, you will have to have permission from the majority if you fall into the minority group. Democracy is a dictatorship by the majority. I see it has much to do with everything. They are very different with great legal significance. Would you have a majority dictate to you just because you may fall into the minority by one vote?

Originally Posted by denmason

You can not be both. (Art. 4, Sec. 4) of the Constitution: " No state may join the United States unless it is a Republic." The Republic is one dedicated to "liberty and justice for all." Minority individual rights are the priority of a republic. People are protected by the Bill of Rights from the majority. One vote in a jury can stop all of the majority from depriving any one of the people of his rights; this would not be so if the United States were a democracy.
In a democracy there is no minority rights except civil rights granted by a majority. So, you will have to have permission from the majority if you fall into the minority group. Democracy is a dictatorship by the majority. I see it has much to do with everything. They are very different with great legal significance. Would you have a majority dictate to you just because you may fall into the minority by one vote?

Denmason, stop it. You are wrong:
de·moc·ra·cy /dɪˈmɒkrəsi/Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[di-mok-ruh-see]Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun, plural -cies. 1.government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system. 2.a state having such a form of government: The United States and Canada are democracies. 3.a state of society characterized by formal equality of rights and privileges. 4.political or social equality; democratic spirit. 5.the common people of a community as distinguished from any privileged class; the common people with respect to their political power.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the...????

Originally Posted by denmason

I agree with you Damon. As far as what is needed for assimilation, I would say: Language = English (my family got no special treatment because we spoke Welsh) lol, though we did speak English.
I think it should be up to the people to figure out how to handle immigrants coming into the USA, not our government. I also don't agree with the hand outs that are given to many people coming into the states. My family came here in 1970, my dad had $600. We received no help at all, it was hard but we made it.
I don't think it's a good idea to give all the benefits to people coming here just because they're here. It seems some of them expect special treatment just because they came here. It should be earned, that way you'll respect it. It's a privilege to live here, I don't see it as a right.
Anyway, enough for now. It's late.

I must agree with this. English would be the most common denominator. I don't believe in giving up an ethnic identity, but what made America great in the past (culturally) and what will help keep America stronger in future is attention to the hyphen. There are no hyphenated Americans, in my opinion. The "melting pot" works because we all come together in common accord. We're not a salad, where there are layers and differences, but no blends. You either are American, or you are not, you're just breathing our air. eg. In my house, we all speak Spanish. It's my children's first language. Amongst ourselves, even outside the home, we all speak Spanish, but I do not expect that they should be given an unfair advantage or pandered to by having their school forms in Spanish or letting them use any sort of excuse for mediocrity. They speak English when they speak to anyone, and most times they speak it to my wife (the immigrant of the family). I remind them that they are half Chilean and they need to understand their roots and culture so they know where they come from, but then I sit them down and make them watch the America Rocks videos from Schoolhouse Rock, so they don't forget what this country once stood for, and so they don't forget the great responsibility I believe they have to maintain high political ideals. In sum, they should know who they are, but they should also realize that they owe a tremendous debt to the Founding Fathers for liberties that up to that time were unheard of in the body politic, and liberty indeed transcends the pithy dogmas of political affiliation.

We are a federal republic (central government shares power with state governments) and a representative democracy (you vote for state representatives and they vote for federal representatives). They are not mutually exclusive.

Originally Posted by denmason

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the...????

Now you are just being a silly boy.

I'm out of this. I really don't give a crap about various and racist opinions.

Yes the United States of America is a Republic. However, I’d have to assert here that although the federal government has remained strong in its republican character, the states have become increasingly democratic.

Whereas the U.S. Constitution does not permit citizens to play a role in lawmaking other than by voting in representative elections, state constitutions provide several other mechanisms by which citizens can participate in governance. In the 19th century many states adopted the mandatory legislative referendum and the optional legislative referendum. By the 20th century nearly half of the states had adopted the popular initiative and/or the referendum. Supporters of this movement argued that by allowing the people to have a greater voice, the public’s interests would be better addressed. If people had a more direct role in government, self-interested legislatures and powerful interest groups would be less capable of passing legislation that was not in the interest of the people. State constitution makers gradually rejected the federal model and chose to permit various forms of direct popular-participation in the lawmaking process. However, this was not the intention of the Founding Fathers. The Federalists had a sound justification for excluding the public from direct lawmaking. As Madison advocates in Federalist No. 10, by allowing the people to have a direct role in lawmaking, there would be no way in which to prevent faction. Madison argued that a republic is set up in such a way that it will stop faction because public views are passed through a “medium of a chosen body of citizens, whose wisdom may best discern the true interest of their country.” Because this “medium” does not exist in a pure democracy, ill-informed, unwise, and self-interested people will be more likely to pass legislation that would not be in the interests of the country as a whole.

I mainly posted this so we could get a chuckle and have alittle fun with it. I meant no harm or personal attacks toward anyone. I just think it's fun during campaigns to see all the interesting people come out and do crazy things to be noticed.

Originally Posted by Damon

I mainly posted this so we could get a chuckle and have alittle fun with it. I meant no harm or personal attacks toward anyone. I just think it's fun during campaigns to see all the interesting people come out and do crazy things to be noticed.

I thought it fun, but was a little taken aback to see how certain members here were willing to put words in the old mans mouth!