The Government of the United States of America, and Arizona, for that matter, are Representative Republics, not Democracies.
It's an important distinction, and one that I've heard many "Tea Partiers" smugly correct others on. (I even heard them shout down a Congressional candidate who used the wrong term.)
In a Democracy, everyone votes. In a Republic, we elect representatives, and they vote. Glenn Beck, Tea Party hero, can tell you all about it with his chalkboard.
We chose a Republic instead of a Democracy on purpose. Democracies tend to be easily influenced by mob rule. The founding fathers, whom the Tea Party is so fond of, called it "mobocracy".
Samuel Adams had this to say about Democracy:
"It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds."
So why am I blathering on about this like a guy in tri-cornered hat? Don't worry, I'll get to the point.
Last week the Arizona Senate voted down Russell Pearce's immigration bills. In our Republic, the people elect Senators, who then vote on bills. The Senate voted, and they sent a clear message- we don't want these bills. In short, they did the job they were elected to do.
The reaction from the Russell Pearce/Rob Haney (and by that I mean insane) wing of the party has been amusing.
Now there's talk of putting these measures on the ballot. Or in other words, bypassing the system of the Republic, and moving on to pure Democracy.
Sadly, it wouldn't surprise me if Pearce and his crew (an "irate, tireless minority" if there ever was one) could set enough "brush fires in people's minds" to get those measures passed. That's not a good thing.
So as I said in the beginning, it would really be nice if we could see some intellectual consistency on the part of the Tea Party/Crazy Right Wing (same thing?).
As of now it seems it's all about the founding fathers and the Republic, except for when it's inconvenient.
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