"Beware the demagogues ready to declare a trade war against our friends"

[Ares]

The people who believe America is a democracy are the same people who believe there is a 4th branch of government or that there is some magical procedure the President has to follow when handling federal "Top Secret" documents. These people have spun themselves into so many knots never reading the U.S. Constitution or the Federalist Papers it is embarrassing.

[Jonathan Whatley]

[LevelUP]

The whole "the US isn't a democracy!" argument is so lame, mostly because it's a semantic argument that fails even in that sense.

There is a subversive use of the word "democracy." This goes deeper than mere semantics.

Some progressives, like Bernie Sanders, want to end the Senate filibuster to stack the Supreme Court and rule by majority—their idea of democracy.

The Difference Between A Democracy and a Constitutional Republic?
https://youtu.be/6sMlIemkXs8?si=hlv61dgV0kD1HZai

A Republic, Not A Democracy by Dan Smoot (1966 Apr 18)
https://youtu.be/KZOtEbwwfOM?si=GQ7ypO749JhC3P1d

Democracy vs. a Constitutional Republic: Ayn Rand's Case (1963 essay)
https://youtu.be/ZV5arQxexyg?si=XdWfXV6Dis7bOswh

The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government. (ArtIV.S4.2 Constitution)
https://constitution.congress.gov/browse..._00013636/

I pledge allegiance 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.

[NotJoeBiden]

The people who believe America is a democracy are the same people who believe there is a 4th branch of government or that there is some magical procedure the President has to follow when handling federal "Top Secret" documents. These people have spun themselves into so many knots never reading the U.S. Constitution or the Federalist Papers it is embarrassing.

Lol ya, the founding fathers actually wanted the former president to hold on to classified documents and store them in a bathroom accessible to people without security clearance. I forgot that is actually in Federalist paper 70.

[jg_nuy]

It's rather simple - Republicans and other right-wingers don't like the word democracy because it is closed to the word Democrats and it does not align with their agenda to revert voting and other gains made by non-white & non-male populations.

[Jonathan Whatley]

It's rather simple - Republicans and other right-wingers don't like the word democracy because it is closed to the word Democrats and it does not align with their agenda to revert voting and other gains made by non-white & non-male populations.

Once upon a time the basic agreement of Republicans and the right with those gains was demonstrated by actions like nominating George W. Bush on a platform stressing outreach to minorities – especially Latinos who he'd connected with in Texas, and in 2000 he did massive numbers among Arabs, and the Bush nomination soundly rejected Pat Buchanan – and the 2013 RNC plan to return to power by winning over increased minority, women, and youth support. Of course there were disagreements about specifics of the gains, the role of government versus private decisions, etc.

I miss that time.

[Ares]

The people who believe America is a democracy are the same people who believe there is a 4th branch of government or that there is some magical procedure the President has to follow when handling federal "Top Secret" documents. These people have spun themselves into so many knots never reading the U.S. Constitution or the Federalist Papers it is embarrassing.

Lol ya, the founding fathers actually wanted the former president to hold on to classified documents and store them in a bathroom accessible to people without security clearance. I forgot that is actually in Federalist paper 70.

The President of the United States can do what ever he wants with so called "classified documents" because the classification has nothing to do with him. He can throw them out a window, wipe his ass with them or light them on fire. It is all irrelevant. He can declare any document "declassified" at will and does not have to tell anybody. Too many people watch too many movies and do not understand the basic powers of the Presidency.

[Jonathan Whatley]

Lol ya, the founding fathers actually wanted the former president to hold on to classified documents and store them in a bathroom accessible to people without security clearance. I forgot that is actually in Federalist paper 70.

The President of the United States can do what ever he wants with so called "classified documents" because the classification has nothing to do with him. He can throw them out a window, wipe his ass with them or light them on fire. It is all irrelevant. He can declare any document "declassified" at will and does not have to tell anybody. Too many people watch too many movies and do not understand the basic powers of the Presidency.

You're describing the power of a sitting president to declassify information or to share classified information.

NJB was describing a separate issue. Official records created or received by the president as part of his constitutional, statutory, or ceremonial duties are not personal property, they're property of the United States per the Presidential Records Act of 1978. After a president leaves office they are managed not by the former president but by the National Archives and Records Administration.

[Ares]

The PRA is completely unconstitutional and violates the separation of powers. Using that precedent congress can write any law to subvert the President's constitutional powers granted to them without having to modify the constitution.

[NotJoeBiden]

The PRA is completely unconstitutional and violates the separation of powers. Using that precedent congress can write any law to subvert the President's constitutional powers granted to them without having to modify the constitution.

I am not sure where you get your information. This act simply means presidential records are archived.