A Republican Form of Government

“The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of government … ” Article IV Section 4, of the Constitution

Many are bemoaning the loss of democracy or are alarmed at the attacks on it.  This is nothing more than Don Quixote tilting at windmills. Even Fox News is calling their election coverage Democracy 2020.

Founding Fathers

Our Founding Fathers never intended for our national government to be a democracy.  That word is not used in the Declaration of Independence nor the Constitution.  

“Democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts and murders itself. There was never a democracy that did not commit suicide.”  John Adams 

Our Founding Fathers were men who had a far-reaching vision.  The Republic that resulted was designed to remain for it was strategic in nature.  It had long-ranging goals and its effectiveness is a testimony to the divine wisdom granted to those men.

No Quick-Fix

Democracies by their very nature are short-sighted.  They offer immediate results with no hope of sustain-ability.  They proffer the illusion of a quick-fix with no idea of how they will produce fruit that will remain.

A sugar tit - nothing more than a pacifier - is what is being tantalizingly offered by many of our current slate of candidates for the presidency. They believe that by throwing money at  problems they can assuage their own guilt.

Electoral College 

By their attacks on the Electoral College - a central tenant of the Republic - they are revealing their true nature. They are nothing  more than demagogues.  “Demagogues have appeared in democracies since ancient Athens. They exploit a fundamental weakness in democracy: because ultimate power is held by the people. Demagogues usually advocate immediate, forceful action to address a crisis while accusing moderate and thoughtful opponents of weakness or disloyalty.”  

A tragic example of this is when an idolatrous union results in the conception of a human life the quick-fix - with no heedance to its long-range viability - is to destroy it while it is yet in the security of the womb.

Incompatible

The basic tenants of a republic and a democracy are fundamentally incompatible. 

U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall observed, “Between a balanced republic and a democracy, the difference is like that between order and chaos.”

A Testing

To borrow from some famous words of a great champion of the Republic, we are currently involved in a “testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.”  Our adjuration must be that this nation was so conceived and dedicated as a Republic - and it shall long endure.  

He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat
He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment-seat
Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! Be jubilant, my feet!
Our God is marching on...   
The Battle Hymn of the Republic