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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: i-node who wrote (185866)	3/31/2004 11:45:38 AM
From: tejek	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1578288

This concept of public opinion is foreign to you all as evidenced by your posts and the behavior of this administration. It isn't foreign; it is just recognized as the annoyance it is. What you call an annoyance is part of the democratic process. Public opinion is fickle and thus must play no role in the sensible administration of foreign policy. Public opinion typically is fickle when the truth is withheld. Americans were in favor of the war because they believed that Iraq was a clear and present danger to the US. They thought that because that's what their leaders told them. If they change their mind now, you can claim that the public is fickled, or you understand that the truth has finally surfaced. A person like yourself would claim the former because it fits neatly into his thesis. That is not to say that a sitting president can allow himself to be attacked relentlessly with lies and deceit and do nothing about it. But when it comes to policy decisions, you really don't want a leader who can be swayed by public opinion -- at least sensible people don't. This is a democracy.........a president serves at the behest of his/her people, not the other way around. This was the problem with the Clinton administration. And the Carter administration. And LBJ. They were not able to control their worry about public opinion, and the result was numerous major foreign policy blunders, and inconstent policy, and these blunders haunt us until this day. What you see as "worry", I see as being responsive to the electorate. It is important to note that in the Federalist Papers there was expressed great concern over the fickleness of public opinion. The authors were well aware that the temptation to be swayed by public opinion must be avoided. Please cite chapter and verse.......who knows what you've read and convinced yourself that it fits your point of view. I would also refer you to JFK's book, Profiles in Courage, which deals with this subject. True leadership means being able to face adverse public opinion and do the right thing in spite of it. Bush does it, and no Democrat president since JFK has. Bush has done nothing......if anyone has thumbed his nose at public opinion, its Dick Cheney. Your premise comes from arrogance and a misplaced sense of superiority; its decidedly anti democratic and poses a grave danger to this country. Democracy works only when the people and their opinion is an acknowledged part of the process. If you were as intelligent as you think you are, you would see that premise. You all should never have been allowed in a position of power. Hopefully, this fall we can undo the damage that has been done.