Cul de Sac by Richard Thompson for July 01, 2008

Today’s strip is easily one of the funniest Cul de Sac strips so far.

Eerily foreshadowing the coronation of Sarah Palin at the Republican convention in St. Paul two months later!!!!

Petey said, “We’re a democracy”. Where does he live? Not the USA. We are NOT a democracy! Never have been. We are a representative republic! We elect people to make our decisions for us. We don’t make them! And in our pledge of allegiance, we don’t say, “And to the democracy for which it stands”. No, we say that we, “Pledge allegiance to the REPUBLIC for which it stands”.

robert423elliott is obviously trying to sell the idea that the only legitimate party in US is the Rep one. Too easy to prove him wrong.

Democracy means “Power of the People” and “We the People” is the beginning of the USA Constitution. Which, therefore, DEFINES the USA as a democracy.

Republic means “the thing (the state) which belongs to everybody”, opposed to Monarchy which means “government by one” but also, in many historical cases, “where everything belongs to one” (e.g. to the Sultan in the Ottoman Empire)

So USA, Italy, France and Germany are Democracies AND Republics, but Republic is the least important term, since there are no real Monarchies (almost) any more, and “republic” has become a synonym of “state”. Indeed, Spain, Japan and UK could be deemed republics, too. They are monarchies only in a formal sense, since real power belongs to representatives of the people. While China and N. Korea can be republics but most surely are NOT democracies, even if the ruling party (or the Kim on duty) claims to govern in name of the people. Who, though, cannot express themselves through free speech or free and fair elections (and N. Korea is a de facto hereditary monarchy). Iran is a republic where the people does elect their president and representatives who, though, are subject to the control of the “Rahbar” and an assembly of religious leaders, so it’s a democracy only in a very limited sense. Does robert think that the USA should be more like China, N. Korea and Iran or Japan and UK?

(2nd part follows)

(read 1st part of the reply above)

robert423elliott confuses “democracy” with “direct democracy” in which all citizens participate in the legislative activity, as in ancient Athens. Impossible now for the huge number of citizens. So USA, Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Japan and UK are “representative democracies”, where the people elect their representatives in free and fair elections. True democracies nonetheless.

the argument by robert423elliott (we pledge allegiance to a Republic, not to a Democracy) is flawed. Republic stands for “state”, while democracy is a possible FORM (the only acceptable) of a state. That is, republic is to democracy as “person” is to “honesty”. I can marry (that is, pledge eternal love to) a person, if she/he is honest. I cannot marry honesty itself. And I claim the right to divorce that person if she/he ceases to be honest. As I claim the right to cease allegiance to my republic if it ceases to be a Democracy

Rejecting Democracy amounts to advocating a fascist state, or a personal dictatorship like that of Stalin, Castro or Mobutu. Because ideas like civil liberties, free speech, free and fair elections etc. are embedded in the concept of Democracy, much more than in that of Republic. So, claiming that USA are not a Democracy amounts to denying the value of those very ideas which the US Constitution poses as the basis of American society.