DEMOCRACY and LIBERTY

He really say that?

Okay, you found a web page.
Stuff like that, I usually attribute to some generic, wise old man, but there it is.

Franklin? No, he was well known.

"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch.
Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote." Benjamin Franklin, 1759

Writing of the merits of a republican or representative form of government, James Madison observed that one of the most important differences between a democracy and a republic is "the delegation of the government [in a republic] to a small number of citizens elected by the rest." The primary effect of such a scheme, Madison continued, was to:

. . . refine and enlarge the public views by passing them through the medium of a chosen body of citizens whose wisdom may best discern the true interest of their country and whose patriotism and love of justice will be least likely to sacrifice it to temporary or partial considerations. Under such a regulation it may well happen that the public voice, pronounced by the representatives of the people, will be more consonant to the public good than if pronounced by the people themselves, convened for the same purpose (Federalist No. 10).

Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote.

* Widely attributed to Franklin on the internet, sometimes without the second sentence. It is not found in any of his known writings, and the word "lunch" is not known to have appeared anywhere in english literature until the 1820s, decades after his death. The phrasing itself has a very modern tone and the second sentence especially might not even be as old as the internet. Some of these observations are made in response to a query at Google Answers.

OmSigDAVID wrote:

"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch.
Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote." Benjamin Franklin, 1759

Quote:

The United States is not strictly a Democracy. It's a Republic.

That 's a fact.

Quote:

Writing of the merits of a republican or representative form of government, James Madison observed that one of the most important differences between a democracy and a republic is "the delegation of the government [in a republic] to a small number of citizens elected by the rest." The primary effect of such a scheme, Madison continued, was to:

. . . refine and enlarge the public views by passing them through the medium of a chosen body of citizens whose wisdom may best discern the true interest of their country and whose patriotism and love of justice will be least likely to sacrifice it to temporary or partial considerations. Under such a regulation it may well happen that the public voice, pronounced by the representatives of the people, will be more consonant to the public good than if pronounced by the people themselves, convened for the same purpose (Federalist No. 10).

Quote:

Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote.

* Widely attributed to Franklin on the internet, sometimes without the second sentence. It is not found in any of his known writings, and the word "lunch" is not known to have appeared anywhere in english literature until the 1820s, decades after his death. The phrasing itself has a very modern tone and the second sentence especially might not even be as old as the internet. Some of these observations are made in response to a query at Google Answers.

Quote:

The usual RW fools making up what they think the founders should have said.

On the authority of PARADOS !

rosborne979 wrote:

OmSigDAVID wrote:

"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch.
Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote." Benjamin Franklin, 1759

Quote:

The United States is not strictly a Democracy. It's a Republic.

That 's a fact.

OmSigDAVID wrote:

rosborne979 wrote:

OmSigDAVID wrote:

"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch.
Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote." Benjamin Franklin, 1759

Quote:

The United States is not strictly a Democracy. It's a Republic.

That 's a fact.

Of course.

How do you think the implications of that fact relate to your original post?

On the authority of PARADOS !

"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for dinner." Web searches on these lines uncovers the earliest definite citations for such a statement credit libertarian author James Bovard with a similar one in the Sacramento Bee (1994):


"Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner."


This statement also definitely occurs in the "Conclusion" (p. 333) of his book Lost Rights: The Destruction of American Liberty (1994) ISBN 0312123337

rosborne979 wrote:

OmSigDAVID wrote:

rosborne979 wrote:

OmSigDAVID wrote:

"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch.
Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote." Benjamin Franklin, 1759

Quote:

The United States is not strictly a Democracy. It's a Republic.

That 's a fact.

Of course.

How do you think the implications of that fact relate to your original post?

Y don' t u tell me ?

and in 252 years we still have learned nothing ..
the people we have elected speak for them selves, take very good care of them selves,