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Is there a sea change afoot among the conservative intelligentsia?
As the Republican Party wrestles with how to reinvent itself to appeal more broadly to an increasingly diverse electorate after its two-straight presidential losses, a handful of conservative thinkers are calling upon the GOP to cast off some of its most well-worn proposals and elements of the party’s identity.
Former Clinton White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles and former Republican Sen. Alan Simpson modified their budget reduction plan. Politico's Jim VandeHei discusses.
These intellectual leaders are arguing that the GOP must embraces changes in policy. That’s significantly different than what the official organs of the Republican Party have said, which is that the party needn’t change its core policies and positions so much as frame them in a way that’s more appealing to more voters.
Take, for example, a post on Monday by Jim Pethokoukis of the American Enterprise Institute, who argued that Republicans should abandon their pursuit of a flat tax, a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution or the gold standard – three ideas that have long found advocates on the right.
“Today, the top marginal tax rate is 40 percent, and inflation is 2 percent. Health-care spending and the debt have both risen by nearly 80 percent as a share of output. The average American is 37 years old,” wrote Pethokoukis on National Review Online. “Economics and demography require a reworking of the conservative policy portfolio. But center-right politicians in Washington keep offering same-old, same-old stale solutions.”
Recommended: Obama warns looming sequester would devastate economy
That’s a sentiment similar to the one voiced by Ramesh Ponnuru on National Review in an op-ed Sunday for the New York Times. Republicans, Ponnuru wrote, should be more willing to move beyond the policy prescriptions offered three decades ago by President Ronald Reagan.
"They slavishly adhere to the economic program that Reagan developed to meet the challenges of the late 1970s and early 1980s, ignoring the fact that he largely overcame those challenges, and now we have new ones," wrote Ponnuru.
Michael Gerson and Peter Wehner, both veterans of the most recent Bush administration, argued in a new piece for Commentary magazine that the GOP should learn from the centrist examples of President Bill Clinton, and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, whose election signaled a new era for the UK’s Labour Party. They argued that Republicans’ sweeping victories in the 2010 midterm elections were an “aberration” rather than a catalyzing moment for the GOP.
Gerson and Wehner prescribed a four-step process for the GOP: Republicans, they wrote, must first renew their focus “on the economic concerns of working-and middle-class Americans;” second, “welcome rising immigrant groups;” third, “express and demonstrate a commitment to the common good;” fourth, “engage vital social issues forthrightly but in a manner that is aspirational rather than alienating;” and fifth, “harness their policy views to the findings of science.”
They wrote that many of the existing Republican presidential frontrunners in 2016 are equipped to deliver that message.
But: “Their challenge is both to refine and relaunch the Republican message, to propose policies that symbolize values and cultural understanding, to reconnect with a middle America that looks different than it once did, and to confront old attitudes, not from time to time, but every day.”
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This is just what the Republicans must do since the Democrats base keep getting dumber and dumber and want more given to them for free. I have come to the realization that this country is catering to those that just want everything for free so I am just living to provide for my family the best I can and let the rest of you ruin this country and you will be crying when the government can no longer afford the handouts. I will be sure to stock up on guns for when there is rioting in the streets and the neighborhood is filled with thugs.
Uhhhh.....Rush much? At this point in time more college graduates have voted for Obama Democrats than ever before. The states that were staunchly Blue have intellectual property of the top universities and high tech companies i.e. California, Washington, and all the Eastern Block. Somehow they contribute net gains to the GDP more than the total of Red States
Cling to your old belief that the Dems are made up of a bunch of mindless union thugs and you will be grossly mistaken.
Total waste of time; all we have to do is scream racism every time somebody disagrees with Obama, and
enough of the republicans will tuck their tails and run.
And to think, the Democrats started the KKK the 1st, 2nd and 3rd resurrections. Promise 'em an Obama phone Mr. Democratic party line man. Promise them $5,000 for every child born in America, like Hillary did when she ran. Take off the sheep's clothing; show 'em who you really are. Tell 'em about big government and how Uncle Sam's gonna take care of 'em now just like the master took care of the slaves in the not so distant past. You had Kennedy, and he was the best of you but you'all killed him, your own party off'ed him. GEEZE. What do you know about what you so openly support? He was a one man, one man, not the whole party.
Sell 'em your socialist corporate daddy come to take care of all the poor babies. Here's the deal, you work, then give us your money and we'll spend it for you cause we know how better than you, then we'll give you an allowance. We'll take care of ya from birth to the grave, even though the government doesn't earn a cent! Tell them what the Democratic party really stands for.
Tell 'em how the NAFTA is ALL about the environment and Free Trade nerf ball; how its gonna even out and make it all better for the poor and down-trodden of the world. Tell 'em how the Clinton Foundation isn't really about doing good over the world, though it may do a bit of good; NOPE, its really about how to protect the Clinton MONEY for years and years to come. But hey, what chance does the average smuck on the street have when s/he's gambling against the guys who not only make the rules but are allowed to trade from the inside. And you have the nerve to say it's all the republicans fault? I bet every big shot on Wall Street was a Repub. Sure, why not. All big corporations are headed by Republicans, sure. I've got a ton of U.S. Bonds to sell you, if you believe that.
Go ahead and tell 'em we actually have free trade, that Frank and Dodd fixed the leaking sieve that are the green tables of Wall Street. That's right, never give a sucker an even break. Make the public look this way and that. Blow smoke up our collective arses. Point your boney fingers all over the place.
Try accusing me of being a racist but if you do, you better be ready to go to court because I am not, nor have I ever been a racist. Cry WOLF buddy. Sounds like you've had the practice. What really gets me, and it should make you realize just how crappy what you said actually is, you actually think screaming racist is something good. I know where the hypocracy in the democratic party came from, it came from the fricking plantation. Has the democratic party got you hoodwimked.
Not to up on the party lines, are ya. You are killing yourself and you don't even know it. Why should the democratic party worry about getting all of us little people in line, when the democrats are lining up all by themselves?
And don't forget it was a democrat that killed Martin Luther King. WHOOPS! And how about Bobby Kennedy, who killed him? It was a Democrat! You fool. Who owns the papers? Who owns the media? What in the world makes you think that the team you are rooting for gives a good God damned about you?
They are selling and you are buying!
phillykevin2
You conveniently left out he was a Democratic candidate in 1988. Just another Liberal bull@!$%#ter aren't you
David Ernest Duke (born July 1, 1950) is a former Grand Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan,[4][5] an American activist and writer, and former Republican Louisiana State Representative. He was a candidate in the Democratic presidential primaries in 1988 and the Republican presidential primaries in 1992. Duke has unsuccessfully run for the Louisiana State Senate, U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, and Governor of Louisiana.
Duke describes himself as a racial realist, asserting that "all people have a basic human right to preserve their own heritage."[6] He is in strong opposition to what he asserts to be Jewish control of the Federal Reserve Bank, the federal government and the media. Duke supports stopping both legal and illegal Non-European immigration,[citation needed] preservation of what he labels Western culture and traditionalist Christian "family values", strict Constitutionalism, abolition of the Internal Revenue Service, voluntary racial segregation, ardent anti-communism and white separatism.[7][8][9]
All we have to do is keep saying that republicans should be more moderate, then they will nominate another
moderate loser like Dole, McCain, Romney, etc...
As long as they NEVER nominate a conservative, WE will win.
Old GOP,still stuck in the past,and have been left behind.
The rest of us Americans will and have moved on to the 21-22 century,,,
The extreem bible thumping,tea heads,and old hacks will continue to fail the American people,that's why they will continue to fail in ever being elected into the whitehouse again..
Bulletman357
You know moron I haven't read one post in all this time from you that has added anything to a debate. You fly off at the mouth say the stupidest things and add not a thing zero to the conversation. You judge people because of age color and creed with no facts about anything. Why don't you and I have a debate I will even let you pick the topic. I'm sure teen magazine is more you style but what the heck I'll still debate you I raised two kids I'm sure I can beat a bubble head like you. Or maybe you can debate me about your room in your mom's basement I even bet you have porn there since no decent woman would go out with an idiot like you. Well what do you say want to debate I'll even give you until Monday
Old Time Democrat, who would you nominate as a viable conservative candidate? The Janus-faced Newt Gingrich? Michelle Bachmann who wants the US to default on its Treasury bonds? Ted Cruz who, three months in office, has suggested that Chuck Hagel has been paid by the North Korean government?
In practice, if the Tea Party should suddenly take over all three branches of government, they would have only two choices: (1) Raise federal revenue by closing loopholes for the rich and raising taxes, or (2) turn the US into a third-world country, perhaps resembling North Korea, with everyone poor but a great big military.
Robert Maxwell
And you don't think this idiot President isn't leading you by the nose down his Marist Socialist hole like the lemming you are.
I rather like the Marists. They have a philosophy that life should be modest, humble, and simple. And they run a pretty good college in Pennsylvania.
I'm of a mixed mind about the Socialists though. Socialism is like alcohol -- a belt now and then never does anyone any harm. And I can't condemn it completely because, after all, the United States of American became at least minimally socialist when Benjamin Franklin was appointed first Postmaster General.
You know the Post Office -- that great big single-payer government-run socialist monopoly?
I really can't comment on my nose ring -- the one by which the Marist Socialist is leading me -- because I haven't gotten one yet. I was thinking of beginning with something small and, well, "humble," like an ear ring.
And I don't honestly think I resemble a lemming in any way. Judging from the pictures I've seen, they're more handsome than I am. I'm afraid my face looks like a relief map of Afghanistan. But in a way that's good, because it helps me lead a life that is humble, modest, and simple.
This seems to say you don't have to change anything, just hide your real intentions better. The GOP has become so entrenched in its ideology that it has alienated all but the angry white vote. The statement above is like telling the conservatives, you stink but you don't really have to take a bath, just pour on some colon and deodorant and mask the smell. They're still gonna be dirty. The truth is that the GOP has been completely taken over by extreme right religious and political groups that by nature won't change. But be warned, all you liberals and progressives out there need to stay very alert. The GOP is not dead yet and more than capable of causing some real harm.
In the minds of most Americans, The Teapublican Party=loons. As long as the Republican Party continues to let itself be held hostage by the Tea Party loons (and they're ALL loons), they will continue to lose national elections. The only resaon the Teapublicans won down-ticket races was because of gerrymandering (aka cheating). Only the loons take themselves seriously. No one rational does.
If the Republican Party wants to avoid oblivion, it must do the following ASAP: 1) Rid itself of the crazies. Throw the Tea Party out. Let them sink or swim on their own. 2) Change policies so that the Republican brand doesn't appeal only to angry old white men. 3) Divest itself of its obsession with women and reproduction. 4) Cut the apron strings with 'Christian' (read fundamentalist Protestant) causes. 4) Lose the whites-only approach to minorities. 5) Open their hearts and their minds. As of this moment, because of the Tea Party influence, the Republican Party is anti-intellectual, anti-education, anti-human beings, anti-everyone and everything, unless they're rich old white guys.
Will they do it? I would like to think so, but I have my doubts. However, if they don't, they'll wind up in the dustbin of history, and that is a fact.
Basing an outcome ("they'll wind up") on speculation ("if they don't") of what may or may not come to pass is not a "fact". It is a supposition based on an an assumption.
Anyone who writes off a minority group that can hold as much sway over the public policy as well as the Tea Party has done, ignores what political power is all about. The Tea Party has enabled the Republicans to capture 30 of 50 state governors and 26 state legislatures (Dems have 19, rest are split), and the Republicans control both governor and legislature in 23 states vs 11 states for the Democrates. ref http://www.statescape.com/resources/partysplits/partysplits.aspx
State politics determine the legislative districts. In the 2012 US Congressional voting in PA, the Republicans won 13 of the 18 US House seats with only 49.3% of the total votes.
That is a party that knows how to leverage its strength to win elections far in excess of its popular numbers. Political parties exist to win elections.
RNC reinvent itself? Oh please...wet my whistle, hey...Rubio... pass me the bottle.
The other day I heard Chris Mathews talking about McCain because he dared question the validity of an unelected official. To discredit Senator McCain, Mathews made reference to a commie chaser back in the 50s named McCarthy. We are talking about two completely different people here; these men are totally different in every way one could think possible. Mathews made me want to puke all over his whole set. And if that wasn't enough, he went on to accuse McCain of being a racist. Oh yes, there was allot of laughing and joking, "I bet he's a racist, ha, ha, ha!
The Democratic party forgets their deep roots of racism. And here's the biggest baddest part: most black Americans don't even realize it! The South was predominantly made up of Democrats. It was Democrats who favored Slavery, sold them at the market, Democrats who tarred and feathered your ancestors, who hung them from trees after dragging them through the streets, who beat them and raped them, who cut their heads off and displayed them from pilings up and down the rivers of Wilmington, who burned down the black parts of the towns and cities across the nation. It was the Democratic party who forced the black man to vote their way or die a cruel and unusual death. It was Democrats who started the KKK (The first Klan was founded in 1865 in Pulaski, TN, by six veterans of the Confederate Army). The Second resurrection of the KKK was, once again, started by Democrats. The Third resurrection was also started by Democrats but due to a Democrat in office, the only name most people saw was then Governor Wallace (who was a republican) and the Democratic Party ran with that, and hid behind it. It was the Democratic party who bought your votes for pennies on the dollar.
And they still buy your vote. I can't believe who easy it is to fool the next generation. You think socialism is better than a democratic republic? Don't get me wrong, some social programs are great, as long as we don't let them get into the hands of those who would manipulate them for their own benefit. But someone tell me, now, how different is the type of socialism we are beginning to experience here different from the plantations of old? Ya really think there won't be a big gap between the haves and havenots? Really? Don't ya know how far it's gone?
Am I getting through to anyone at all? Personally, I think both parties have been high-jacked. Democrats are deeply rooted in socialism. The plantation was a form of socialism. The new masters are corporate in nature. And Republicans seemed to forget totally about the little guy.
I'd rather die defending my rights than suck off the government plantation teat. I'm no longer a democrat or a republican; I'm an Independent and for fricking good reason. I see the IMF and World Bank for what they are. I already know we are fighting a war of economics, don't you? It's being brought to you by the very same political entities. Republicans used to be for the little guy, small business and a small Federal government. Not any more. But look at the Democratic party, its a fricking plantation in disguise. I don't care that there's a black man in the Oval office, as far as I'm concerned, he is being used by the Democratic party. Do you really want socialism? Do you really want to run the majority of your paycheck through the Federal government, when our banking system, the Federal Reserve, is privately owned and it is the Feds who will ultimately own out-right every penney of what they lend our Treasury? What are you thinking? How is this good for you? What are you fighting about? What are you fighting FOR?
He's a smart man too. But please, look at what is happening to probably the greatest form of government the world has seen, your rights are being destroyed. For blacks to be in favor of drones flying around the US amazes me. My gawd, weren't your neighborhoods singled out by heliocopters starting in the 70's? Didn't you get enough of big brother? Treat people like they are criminals and they will become criminals. Do you like being frisked and x-rayed at the airport? What about Hurricane Katrina, did you like being locked in?
People, it's not our Constitution or our Bill of Rights that needs to change. How many laws do you want on the books? How much freedom are you willing to give away to feel safe, when if fact, none of us are safe. We are human, and we have weaknesses. We can't even get out of bed with a personal guarantee that we will be able to get back into bed at the end of the day. Today, is simply isn't possible to walk down the street without breaking a law. Are you any safer? And when our own government runs black-ops, and our money is manipulated (we aren't capitalists people, our finances are manipulated and have been for over 40 years) are any of us any closer to immortality?
I know I'm writing allot but I'm really put off. Don't you all realize the Tea Party and the March on Wall Street were ideally about the same fricking important issues? Both movements were high-jacked and it was soooo easy. You cater to the least important issues, you cature to the fringe elements!!!!!!!!!! You divide and conquer. You incert top leaders from a list of talking heads. You corral huge groups of peopleand belittle their highest ideals by referring to all of them as racists, and homophobics or baby-killers and commies.
Please, please, please realize that the media is bought and paid for by the very same people who want something from you! They want to convince you of something. When did you all stop realizing how much power you have over what happens to you? Think for yourselves. Think 7 generations ahead. Read "real" history but realize history is usually writtne by those who have won. And don't go into debt! And if you are in debt... get out of it. You don't own anything that isn't totally paid for. Even then, if you can't pay your taxes, everything can be taken from you.
Now, our government doesn't even have to have a warrant, habius corpus, or probable cause to enter your home and arrest you. You don't even have to commit a crime, all you have to be is a threat. And I ask, a threat to what? To whom? There may come a time where my writing this would become a threat to our nation. Do you really think anything I've written could be construed as a threat? Someone might. Someone in power might. It might not be tomorrow but it might be the next day. Who knows, there is no rhyme or reason. Today I step left and it is fine. Tomorrow I step left and it is against the law. And this inconsistency is OK? Don't think that cannot happen here, in the U.S. Many don't remember how it once was. How many people have starved to death in America? And when this nation is so far in debt, this administration has the gaul to say Republicans want your children to starve to death. It's not about a government that has over-spent OUR MONEY, no, it couldn't be that. (And believe me both parties are guilty as sin, when it comes to spending money). The government supplements the school breakfast and lunch programs but they also supplement the OIL companies that make huge profits!!!!!!!!! You tell me which one to cut and what the difference would be in your pocket? I guess the price of gas wouldn't go up, right? And children wouldn't be just as affected, when it came to their parents being able to afford food, right? But when you put it one way, it sounds so completely different, doesn't it. Use the kids, that's right. Hook, line and sinker.
Get this, please.
Sorry, I was in the middle of spell check and ran out of time. No wonder, I've writtn too much anyway. The point is, think for yourselves. I know you are busy trying to live, etc.. but please, take a little time before you jump on your brother. These political parties are not YOU. You are many, many things to many, many people, don't get fooled by the hype.
Honest to God, I had absolutely NO Idea someone else had even even come up with the concerp of the Democratic Plantation. I was looking up some info on Lyndon Johnson and here's what I found. I knew I was right on but I didn't know how much. I can't tell you how sorry I am about it either. What a pig he was.
http://commonsenseconspiracy.com/2012/10/lyndon-johnson-the-n-word-and-the-concept-of-the-democrat-plantation/
Republicans, they wrote, must first renew their focus “on the economic concerns of working-and middle-class Americans;” second, “welcome rising immigrant groups;” third, “express and demonstrate a commitment to the common good;” fourth, “engage vital social issues forthrightly but in a manner that is aspirational rather than alienating;” and fifth, “harness their policy views to the findings of science.”
......."Renew their focus". That would suggest they had middle class workers in their best interest at one time. In a nut shell trickle down economics does not create jobs. There 30 year experiment has been a failure and they with the help of the MSM are trying to rebrand the party.
@sygh
The liberals on this thread won't respond because they are part of the problem. Just ask about the keystone pipeline
This has been
checked out and is true!!! Read every word and pass it on.
OIL - You better be
sitting down when you read this!
As you may know,
Cruz Construction started a division in North Dakota just 6 months ago. They send every Kenworth (9 trucks) we had here in
Alaska to North Dakota and several drivers. They just bought two new Kenworth's
to add to that fleet; one being a Tri Drive tractor and a new 65 ton lowboy to
go with it. They also bought two new cranes (one crawler & one rubber tired)
for that division.
Dave Cruz said
they have moved more rigs in the last 6 months in ND than Cruz Construction
moved in Alaska in the last 6 years.
Williston is like a gold rush town; they moved one of
our 40 man camps down there since there are no rooms available.
Unemployment in ND is the lowest
in the nation at 3.4 percent last I checked.
See anything in the national news about how the oil
industry is fueling North Dakota 's economy?
Here's an astonishing read. Important and verifiable
information:
About 6 months ago,
the writer was watching a news program on oil and one of the Forbes Bros. was
the guest.
The host said to
Forbes, "I am going to ask you a direct question and I would like a direct
answer; how much oil does the U.S. have in the ground?" Forbes did not miss a
beat, he said, "more than all the Middle East put together."
The U. S.. Geological Service issued a report in April
2008 that only scientists and oil men knew was coming, but man was it big.
It was a revised report (hadn't
been updated since 1995) on how much oil was in this area of the western 2/3 of
North Dakota, western South Dakota, and extreme eastern
Montana.
Check THIS
out:
The Bakken is the largest
domestic oil discovery since Alaska 's Prudhoe Bay , and has the potential to
eliminate all American dependence on foreign oil. The Energy Information
Administration (EIA) estimates it at 503 billion barrels. Even if just 10% of
the oil is recoverable( 5 billion barrels), at $107 a barrel, we're looking at a
resource base worth more than $5.3 trillion.
"When I first briefed legislators on this, you could
practically see their jaws hit the floor.
They had no idea.." says Terry Johnson, the Montana
Legislature's financial analyst.
"This sizable find is now the highest-producing
onshore oil field found in the past 56 years," reports The Pittsburgh Post
Gazette .
It's a formation known
as the Williston Basin , but is more commonly referred to as the 'Bakken.' It
stretches from Northern Montana, through North Dakota and into Canada .
For years, U. S. oil exploration
has been considered a dead end. Even the 'Big Oil' companies gave up searching
for major oil wells decades ago.
However, a recent technological breakthrough has
opened up the Bakken's massive reserves, and we now have access of up to 500
billion barrels. And because this is light, sweet oil, those billions of barrels
will cost Americans just $16 PER BARREL !!!!!!
That's enough crude to fully fuel the American economy
for 2041 years straight.
And if
THAT didn't throw you on the floor, then this next one should - because it's
from 2006 !!!!!!
U.. S. Oil
Discovery - Largest Reserve in the World
Stansberry Report Online -
4/20/2006
Hidden 1,000 feet
beneath the surface of the Rocky Mountains lies the largest untapped oil reserve
in the world.
It is more than 2
TRILLION barrels. On August 8, 2005 President Bush mandated its extraction.
In three and a half years of high
oil prices none has been extracted.
With this motherload of oil why are we still fighting
over off-shore drilling?
They
reported this stunning news: We have more oil inside our borders, than all the
other proven reserves on earth.
Here are the official estimates:
8 times as much oil as Saudi
Arabia
18 times as much oil as
Iraq
21 times as much oil as
Kuwait
22 times as much oil as
Iran
500 times as much oil as
Yemen
and it's all right here in
the Western United States !!!!!!
HOW can this BE? HOW can we NOT
BE extracting this? Because the environmentalists and others have blocked all
efforts to help America become independent of foreign oil! Again, we are letting
a small group of people dictate our lives and our economy. WHY?
James Bartis, lead researcher with the study says
we've got more oil in this very compact area than the entire Middle East , more
than 2 TRILLION barrels untapped. That's more than all the proven oil reserves
of crude oil in the world today, reports The Denver Post .
Don't think 'OPEC' will drop its price even with this
find? Think again! It's all about the competitive marketplace, it has to.
Think OPEC just might be funding
the environmentalists?
Got your
attention yet? Now, while you're thinking about it, do this:
Pass this along. If you don't take a little time to do
this, then you should stifle yourself the next time
you complain about gas prices, by doing NOTHING, you
forfeit your right to complain.
Now I just wonder what would happen in this country if
every one of you sent this to every one in your address
book.
By the way, this can be
verified. Check it out at the link below !!!!!!
> ; < < >
Cruz
Construction:
; <
;
Another article from a "Rino" Republican in Name Only for those in the Northeast Corridor that pretend to be Republicans. We had to wrestle the party out of your blue bolld hands before and we are about to do it again. You guys wouldn't know middle America if you walked out among us and stepped in a warm pile of cow S... Stuff. YOu dirty minded thing!!! LOL
We still know when asked iin a blind survey about policies that the public by large margins agree wiht the Republican view (maybe we should say conservative view). The biggest problem is that we have nominated two (establishment) candidates over the last two elections that could not have been elected president of my home room!!! We need a true statesman who has a vision. Not just one has been iin the limelight for many years and they feel it is their time to run because they have been there so long. We need new and exciting people who can deliver the message we have and know how to spar with a far left media that has gone from reporting to advocating for the left.
It is the person and not the message. Just listen to the socialist leader and party that is now in control of our country. What a mess!!! But don't worry President Obama the press will blame the republicans! But you will be known by history as the destroyer of the light on a shining hill. You will be known as what you are and the dark history that began because of your policies.
Because none of you seem to know the difference between a Conservative and a Liberal. Here is the difference. Please take the time to read it.
www.studentnewsdaily.com/conservative-vs-liberal-beliefs/
And you repost the same nonsense for a third time. Let's let another Liberal hero tell us WHY it's important to seek a society of equal opportunity rather than enshrine a new aristocracy as Conservatives would have us do;
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/jfkinaugural.htm