Question: What did President Obama mean when he recently stated that the USA was still working on its democracy?
This recent article and/or blog post seems to answer to this question-You Decide:
Obama: “We’re still working on our democracy”–Posted on thecable.foreignpolicy.com-By Josh Rogin-On April 11, 2010:
http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/04/11/obama_were_still_working_on_our_democracy
These are pertinent excerpts from this article:
“President Obama said Sunday that the United States is still “working on” democracy and a top aide said he has taken “historic steps” to improve democracy in the United States during his time in office.
The remarks came as Obama met with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev—one of the U.S. president’s many meetings with world leaders ahead of this week’s nuclear summit.
Kazakhstan, which has been touting its record on combating nuclear proliferation, is a key player in the NATO supply network to Afghanistan and currently heads the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
Some observers see a conflict between Kazakhstan’s chairmanship of the 56-nation OSCE, which plays an important role in monitoring elections in emerging democracies, and its own widely criticized human rights record.
But if the Obama administration saw any disconnect, it kept its criticism to itself.
“In connection with the OSCE, the presidents had a very lengthy discussion of issues of democracy and human rights,” NSC senior director Mike McFaul said on a conference call with reporters Sunday. “Both presidents agreed that you don’t ever reach democracy; you always have to work at it. And in particular, President Obama reminded his Kazakh counterpart that we, too, are working to improve our democracy.”
The Wall Street Journal’s Jonathan Weisman asked McFaul to clarify.
“You seemed to be suggesting there was some equivalence between their issues of democracy and the United States’ issues, when you said that President Obama assured him that we, too, are working on our democracy,” Weisman said. “Is there equivalence between the problems that President Nazarbayev is confronting and the state of democracy in the United States?”
“Absolutely not … There was no equivalence meant whatsoever,” McFaul said. “[Obama’s] taken, I think, rather historic steps to improve our own democracy since coming to office here in the United States.”
In an interview, Kazakh Ambassador Erlan Idrissov told Weisman, “There was no pressure at all in the meeting,” and that Obama quoted Winston Churchill as saying that democracy is “the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried.”
The warm welcome for Nazarbayev underscores the extent to which Kazakhstan, which agreed in January to allow NATO to ship nonlethal cargo through its territory, has become critical to the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan—especially given the ongoing instability in neighboring Kyrgyzstan, where the U.S. military leases an important airbase.
Nazarbayev has ruled Kazakhstan since 1991, when the country became independent after the fall of the Soviet Union, and his highly centralized rule has been heavily criticized by human rights monitors.
The State Department’s own 2009 human rights report on Kazakhstan reported widespread human rights violations, including severe limits on citizens’ rights to change their government; detainee and prisoner torture and other abuse; unhealthy prison conditions; arbitrary arrest and detention; lack of an independent judiciary; restrictions on freedom of speech, the press, assembly, and association; and pervasive corruption, especially in law enforcement and the judicial system.
Freedom House’s 2010 world survey declared Kazakhstan “not free” and said, “Kazakhstan holds the chairmanship of the OSCE for the year 2010 despite a record of fraudulent elections and repression of independent critics in the media and civil society—behavior that only grew worse as 2010 approached.”
The latest Human Rights Watch report on Kazakhstan was entitled, “An atmosphere of quiet repression.”
“Putting the United States in the same category as a country such as Kazakhstan is ridiculous, said Jamie Fly, executive director of the Foreign Policy Institute, a conservative think tank. “President Obama should be using the success of America’s democratic experience to encourage foreign leaders to improve their own systems, not implying that we are all in the same boat.”
Question: Could the President mean that he and his administration are covertly working on transforming the USA into a socialist democracy?
These are excerpts from wikipedia.org regarding forms of democracy:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy
Representative:
Representative democracy involves the selection of government officials by the people being represented. If the head of state is also democratically elected then it is called a democratic republic. The most common mechanisms involve election of the candidate with a majority or a plurality of the votes.
Representatives may be elected or become diplomatic representatives by a particular district (or constituency), or represent the entire electorate proportionally proportional systems, with some using a combination of the two. Some representative democracies also incorporate elements of direct democracy, such as referendums. A characteristic of representative democracy is that while the representatives are elected by the people to act in their interest, they retain the freedom to exercise their own judgment as how best to do so.
Direct:
Direct democracy is a political system where the citizens participate in the decision-making personally, contrary to relying on intermediaries or representatives. The supporters of direct democracy argue that democracy is more than merely a procedural issue. A direct democracy gives the voting population the power to:
- Change constitutional laws,
- Put forth initiatives, referenda and suggestions for laws,
- Give binding orders to elective officials, such as revoking them before the end of their elected term, or initiating a lawsuit for breaking a campaign promise.
Of the three measures mentioned, most operate in developed democracies today. This is part of a gradual shift towards direct democracies. Examples of this include the extensive use of referenda in California with more than 20 million voters, and (i.e., voting).[56] in Switzerland, where five million voters decide on national referenda and initiatives two to four times a year; direct democratic instruments are also well established at the cantonal and communal level. Vermont towns have been known for their yearly town meetings, held every March to decide on local issues. No direct democracy is in existence outside the framework of a different overarching form of government. Most direct democracies to date have been weak forms, relatively small communities, usually city-states. The world is yet to see a large, fundamental, working example of direct democracy as of yet, with most examples being small and weak forms.”
Socialist:
“Democracy cannot consist solely of elections that are nearly always fictitious and managed by rich landowners and professional politicians.”
— Che Guevara, Marxist revolutionary[57]
Socialist thought has several different views on democracy. Social democracy, democratic socialism, and the dictatorship of the proletariat (usually exercised through Soviet democracy) are some examples. Many democratic socialists and social democrats believe in a form of participatory democracy and workplace democracy combined with a representative democracy.
Within Marxist orthodoxy there is a hostility to what is commonly called “liberal democracy”, which they simply refer to as parliamentary democracy because of its often centralized nature. Because of their desire to eliminate the political elitism they see in capitalism, Marxists, Leninists and Trotskyists believe in direct democracy implemented though a system of communes (which are sometimes called soviets). This system ultimately manifests itself as council democracy and begins with workplace democracy. (See Democracy in Marxism)”
Note: This ebook and video give us a meticulous overview of democracy in America and America, The Republic:
Democracy in America!–By Alexis de Tocqueville-Translated by Henry Reeve-On eBooks@Adelaide 2008:
http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/t/tocqueville/alexis/democracy/
Video: A Republic, If You Can Keep It – The American Form of Government!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGL8CiUtXF0
Note: The following is a must read article and/or blog post regarding the path of freedom to bondage-You Decide:
Liberty v the Fatal Cycle of Democracy: ‘The Path from Freedom to Bondage!’-Posted on The Patriot Post-By Mark Alexander-On December 15, 2011:
http://patriotpost.us/alexander/2011/12/15/liberty-v-the-fatal-cycle-of-democracy/
Note: The following articles and/or blog posts and videos relate to and/or support the above ebook, articles and/or blog posts and videos-You Decide:
STUDENTS FOR A DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY (SDS)-FOUNDED 1959!-Posted We The People USA-By Jake Martinez-On April 14, 2012:
Obama Takes Unilateral Steps To Help Businesses Create Jobs!-Posted on RTT News-By RTT Staff Writer-On October 28, 2011:
http://www.rttnews.com/Content/TopStories.aspx?Node=B1&Id=1745807
Video: Obama Admits He Wants To Be Our Dictator!!-Posted on YouTube.com-By Americanrevolution02-On July 25, 2011:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yf7rPmPQ64k&feature=related
Obama signature creates ‘continental perimeter’: ‘Move described as key step in advance of North American Union’–Posted on WND.com-By Jerome R. Corsi-On February 8, 2011:
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=261477
Morning Bell: Defending Freedom is a Choice–Posted on The Heritage Foundation-On May 4, 2010:
How the EU’s Lisbon Treaty Affects U.S. National Security!–Posted on The Heritage Foundation-By Paul Rosenzweig-On March 23, 2010:
Note: The above articles and/or blog posts and videos relate to and/or support my following blog posts-You Decide:
What we haven’t been told about the President’s background!
New World Order By Executive Order!
https://weroinnm.wordpress.com/2011/02/13/new-world-order-by-executive-order/
Progressive group maps out President Obama’s strategy for next 2 years!
The Midterm Elections and the Communist Manifesto!
https://weroinnm.wordpress.com/2010/10/08/the-midterm-elections-and-the-communist-manifesto/
Progressives and Communists Are Out of the Closet Together!
Who is sponsoring the NAACP’s ‘One Nation Working Together’ rally?
The Reason for the Treason!
https://weroinnm.wordpress.com/2010/03/22/the-reason-for-the-treason/
Is it important to understand the Marxist assault on the foundations of our system?
How the EU’s Lisbon Treaty Affects U.S. National Security!
https://weroinnm.wordpress.com/2010/03/30/does-the-eu’s-lisbon-treaty-affect-u-s-national-security/
Were We Forewarned About What to Expect If President Obama Got Elected?
The Greatest Fraud Perpetrated in American History!
https://weroinnm.wordpress.com/2011/06/20/the-greatest-fraud-perpetrated-in-american-history/
The Russian View of What Has Been Happening In America!
https://weroinnm.wordpress.com/2010/04/22/the-russian-view-of-what-has-been-happening-in-america-2/
Extensive Research Into Senator Obama’s Background Completed on November 3, 2008:
Where Is America Today?
https://weroinnm.wordpress.com/2010/05/26/where-is-america-today-2/
Is it time to call for Obama’s resignation!
https://weroinnm.wordpress.com/2010/06/09/is-it-time-to-call-for-obamas-resignation/
Washington Times Calls for Obama’s Impeachment!
https://weroinnm.wordpress.com/2010/08/31/washington-times-calls-for-obama’s-impeachment/
A Nation Adrift Theme and Disclaimer:
https://weroinnm.wordpress.com/2010/01/26/disclaimer/
“Food For Thought”
“God Bless & Keep Our USA Safe”
Semper Fi!
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