"Jake McGuire" wrote in message
om...
Ed Rasimus wrote in message
. ..
We are indeed "an experiment in Democracy", but if you examine the
Constitution (which you so freely refer to) you'll see that the
Founding Fathers weren't all that confident in the ability of the
"great unwashed" to govern themselves. Until the 17th Amendment,
ratified in 1913, the Senate was "appointed" by the various state
legislatures--not popularly elected. For the first 126 years of the
Republic, only the House was popularly elected. The Senate, the Prez,
the Judiciary, all were selected by a process that was isolated from
"we the people"--insuring the control of the elites, the Founders
themselves.

While deferring to your expertise in this matter, isn't the opposite
spin of "The founders thought that it was wise to add some inertia
between the sometimes erratic and fickle vote of the populace and the
actual mechanism of power, while still leaving the people in ultimate
control" just as valid?

No, the Founders were far from being of one mind. The Federalists
(librtarians) had ultimate control in creating the Republic, with those of
democratic persuasion placing the 3/5 law into the Constitution (democracy
ultimately leads to the opression of the minority) and those of the
republicn (anti-federalists) way of thinking wanting the Bill of Rights.
Later, Jefferson created the Democratic Republican Party and defeated the
Federalists to this day.

John P. Tarver, MS/PE