I need a comeback.

[murielm99]

I was speaking to a county board member this evening, a very very conservative county board member. I called him because I wanted his vote on something. (I knew I wasn't going to get it).

Anyway, he said that we do not live in a democracy, but we live in a representative republic. I think he was telling me that because he wanted me to know that my opinion meant nothing to him. I told him that as far as I was concerned, they were the same thing. By his reasoning, only Switzerland was a democracy.

I need a way to respond to this guy. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

[acmavm]

1. Tell him that thanks to the greed and dishonesty of people like

himself, during the good times we lived under an oligarchy. After the two stolen elections we have now become the old Soviet Union.

[blm]

2. We live in a democratic republic - it''s actually a hybrid -

not a pure republic, not a pure democracy.

[Vincardog]

3. We live in a Democratic elected Republic. Or at least we used to

before the coup of 2000.

[niyad]

4. ask him exactly who he thinks he is supposed to be representing, and

remind him that he is a PUBLIC SERVANT who works for ALL the people, and that YOU pay his salary just as much as the ones who voted for him do. they realllllllly hate being reminded of this simple little fact, which I point out to them constantly.

"You work for ME, jerk, NOT the other way around."

[anewdeal]

5. In the most literal sense, he is right

Democracy is rule by the people
America is ruled by officials selected by the people.

My advice is not to try to prove him wrong, but rather show some other way that your opinion means something.

[Botany]

6. Tell him you don't need a high school civics quote .....

He is right but it is an awful condescending thing to say.

Forget it and move on to whatever point or issue you wish to discuss with
him. Both forms should respond to the will of the people and that is you.

Argue and work for what matters and let the debate clubs waste their time
and get nothing done.

[Anna Lee]

7. Ask him when the last time he heard that America's young men

were dieing to spread representative republics around the world. Perhaps we should bring them home until we decide what the ... we are doing and what type of government we support.

[cantstandbush]

13. THIS IS THE BEST COMEBACK !! You get my vote. n/t

[rosesaylavee]

8. Don't all elected officials pledge

or vow to protect the Constitution? I am not one but read recently that that was so. Review whatever he vowed to protect and if it was the Constitution, remind him of his vow/pledge.

[stellanoir]

9. There is nothing even remotely remaining of

a representative legislature. They are beholden to the corporate powers and no longer to "we the people."

Especially since our votes are manipulated by those in charge.

[Lexingtonian]

10. tell him

that despite what he deludes himself into believing, his job is defined by being answerable here and now to the people who elect him and not answerability to bizarre abstractions, ideals, or idolatries. God is not his own mind and his own attitudes.

And yes, the expectations of the people who vote are not overridden by any way he misreads the charter or bylaws.

[rurallib]

11. Cut to the chase and just say "Fuck you, you fascist"

That's a good conversation opener (not to freeper trolls: this is an example of SARCASM which is an attempt too ... oh, hell never mind you'll never understand)

[Mz Pip]

12. So why are we trying to spread

Democracy in the Mid-East if we don't even have one?

Mz Pip
:dem: