*shakes head, rolls eyes*

We are not a Democracy. Yes, we encourage democracy, but that is not our form of government. We are a democratic Republic (another reason for loving Montesquieu). It says that in our Pledge of Alliegance for crying out loud!

"I pledge alliegance 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."

Methinks our system hath been corrupted. Majorly corrupted.

I think Senators, before they are sworn into office or whatever happens when they're elected, should have to take a test. A test on the Constitution, Bill of Rights, and the recently added codes. They're the ones who make laws! And pass acts! Do you know how many acts are passed in a year? And how many acts you have to know just to read one?

Seriously, I was reading the Patriot Act the other day, and I had to pull up several U.S. codes and a few acts just to read one section. It made me want to be a senatorial clerk. How fun would that be? Getting to work in Congress but not as a Senator or Representative! It's too hard to get there, so I'd just want to be a clerk. But that requires law schooling...and I don't want to be a lawyer. It's a sticky business. My dad is a lawyer (an elder law lawyer) and it's not really a fun job...not that all jobs have to be fun, but one should get a little enjoyment out of them. I guess I could get a degree in Constitutional Law but not be a lawyer...too many school-related deadlines...I'm not a deadline person. I ABHOR schedules and deadlines. They aren't bad, I just don't like them.

I tend to rabbit-trail. I know.

The only question is...do I have a gift for something like that? Yeah, I'm interested in it, but do I have skill, talent, that sort of thing in that area.

And don't let anybody tell you that the Patriot Act is discriminatory against persons of Middle-Eastern decent. It has a whole section devoted to this, and here it is:

SEC. 102. SENSE OF CONGRESS CONDEMNING DISCRIMINATION
AGAINST ARAB AND MUSLIM AMERICANS.
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Arab Americans, Muslim Americans, and Americans
from South Asia play a vital role in our Nation and are entitled
to nothing less than the full rights of every American.
(2) The acts of violence that have been taken against Arab
and Muslim Americans since the September 11, 2001, attacks
against the United States should be and are condemned by
all Americans who value freedom.
(3) The concept of individual responsibility for wrongdoing
is sacrosanct in American society, and applies equally to all
religious, racial, and ethnic groups.
(4) When American citizens commit acts of violence against
those who are, or are perceived to be, of Arab or Muslim
descent, they should be punished to the full extent of the
law.
(5) Muslim Americans have become so fearful of harassment
that many Muslim women are changing the way they
dress to avoid becoming targets.
(6) Many Arab Americans and Muslim Americans have
acted heroically during the attacks on the United States,
including Mohammed Salman Hamdani, a 23-year-old New
Yorker of Pakistani descent, who is believed to have gone
to the World Trade Center to offer rescue assistance and is
now missing.
(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Congress that—
(1) the civil rights and civil liberties of all Americans,
including Arab Americans, Muslim Americans, and Americans
from South Asia, must be protected, and that every effort
must be taken to preserve their safety;
(2) any acts of violence or discrimination against any
Americans be condemned; and
(3) the Nation is called upon to recognize the patriotism
of fellow citizens from all ethnic, racial, and religious backgrounds.

So THERE.

Hah. The sense of Congress. Hahahaha...

Mark Twain had a couple (I'm sure more than a couple, but this is what I have) of things to say about Congress...

"Suppose you were an idiot and suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself."

"It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinctly American criminal class except Congress."

How horribly true those are to-day...although a few Senators aren't like that, the majority of them are...cowards unfit for their position.
The House is a little better though...the GOP Representatives actually act Republican.

It's the American people too. They don't know what's good for them. They haven't since the 70s. Well, that's when we started to go down-hill. Around the mid- to late 60s and the early 70s is when we lost it. All because of San Fransisco: the birthplace of most radical liberal movements.

over and out