Ferguson wrong about democracy

Our attorney general was quoted recently as saying, “Are we not a democracy?” Unless we are acting through a vote on an initiative or referendum, the answer, he should have known, is no. We have a republic, a representative government in which those we elect to the legislative branch make the laws, supposedly according to our wishes. Benjamin Franklin famously said, when asked about what kind of government had been created, “A republic madam, if you can keep it.” I’m afraid we won’t keep it if some elected officials don’t know what kind of government they work for.

The attorney general also said: “Do we not have a system of checks and balances.” Yes, we do. The question we should be asking is how do we check and balance the courts? The answer is clear if you read what our founders said when adopting our system of government. Could the courts check and balance Congress by delaying a declaration of war as we were being invaded because of a misinterpretation of the Constitution?

That would make us safer? I guess it is back to the civics course, if one ever took it.

Don Brockett

Spokane