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Originally Posted by Danzig
so...if the majority voted to get rid of the rights to a free press, would that be ok? to stifle free speech, expression?
once again, majority does NOT rule. the constitution is supposed to rule,and all laws that are passed must stand that test. so, does a law that treats some citizens as less equal than others belong in the land of the free? what happened to all being created equal? life, liberty, etc, etc.
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Darn straight, Danzig. It took a court decision to make it legal for interracial couples to marry- if that one had been left to the voters, I suspect some states would STILL have laws on the books against it.
Or as the US State info site puts it on the "What is Democracy" page under "Majority Rule and Minority Rights":
"The rights of minorities do not depend upon the goodwill of the majority and cannot be eliminated by majority vote. The rights of minorities are protected because democratic laws and institutions protect the rights of all citizens."
http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pub...em/whatdm2.htm
And yeah, certainly it's unfair to blame any group of voters. That said, a lot of incendiary things have been tossed at racial minority voters in the blogosphere since last Tuesday and I thought it was a worthwhile piece on 538- that a lot of what is being said is statistically wrong. Most interesting was the difference in percentages the last time it was on the CA ballot compared with this time. Prop 8 will stand for 4 years at the most. Maybe only 2.