Quote:
Originally Posted by dksuddeth
are you seriously trying to tell me that the framers of the US Constitution set up the representative system so that districts could elect leaders to make a principled stand, even though that stand would be directly opposed to what the people in that district want?
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BTW, that is PRECISELY what the framers had in mind. The framers were concerned about excessive power in the hands of what at the time were largely illiterate and ill-informed masses. They designed us a representative democracy so that we could elect our schooled elite to represent our interests for us.
Going to "framer's intent" on this one is a losing argument, because the framers were working in a very different world from the one we're living in now, and it's as incomprehensible to us as our world would be to them. Or at least, any "framer's intent" that coincides too neatly with one's OWN intent ought to be looked at with skepticism.