Cushioning the Government from the Direct Expression of the Will of the People

Today, the terms republic and democracy are virtually interchangeable, but that wasn't always the case, especially at the time of the creation of our "Constitutional Republic" .

Democracy implied direct rule by the people, all of whom were equal. Whereas republic implied a system of government in which the will of the people was mediated by representatives, who might be wiser and better educated than the average person -- the elite.

For example, in the early American republic, the requirement that voters own property and the establishment of institutions such as the Electoral College were intended to cushion the government from the direct expression of the will of the people.

Well, it could be said that things have changed over the last 250 years, and no, not towards democracy, but, towards empire. And that cushion has/is growing to smothering proportions, as an interlocked corrupt oligarchic system, the ruling elite, works quietly in the shadows, "creating other new realities".

‘We’re an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you’re studying that reality — judiciously, as you will — we’ll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that’s how things will sort out. We’re history’s actors . . . and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.’ — Senior Bush Advisor, The New York Times, October 17, 2004