now that the definition is out of the way, my opinion is that our democracy and republic are in danger. when the prissy pearl and sweater set (the national coalition of concerned women) go on talk shows and start in about homosexual decadence as the corruption that led to the downfall of the rome, they clearly have no knowledge of the voting bribes and gang intimidation that were part of the later consular elections. that's what led to the demise of the roman republic and the rise of the roman empire, and that's where we're really headed. we may not have an empire, but our executive branch is conducting itself in an imperial fashion.
the democratic process has been privatized to the extent that we cannot be sure that our votes are even being counted. sadly, we are so complacent as a population and so disengaged from the process that we continue to allow this to go unchecked and most people don't even bother to cast a ballot. if you are republican or democrat, it does not matter, everyone should still be outraged at the 2000 presidential election. it was a travesty of democracy. everyone should vote, and every vote should count or else we don't have a democracy at all.
gore vidal eloquently pointed this out in the last episode of bill mahr's real time. the transcript is not up yet, but when it becomes available, this is the link:
http://www.safesearching.com/billmah...nscripts.shtml