On the Filibuster

"Today's events show that democracy is still alive in America!" ~ unknown pro-choice supporter.

Today's (and yesterday's) events do not show that democracy is "still" alive in America. Why? America is not a democracy, and it never was. America is, and has always been, a republic. This means that the people do not directly vote on laws, nay, they elect representatives to vote for them. So, when a mob of people decides to take it upon themselves to disturb and disrupt Senate proceedings through rowdy and, on occasion, violent behavior, is that what America stands for? No. Do mob mentality, insane noise, hostility to Senate staff, and pointless chants that do nothing but disturb the peace promote democracy? No. These are not American values, they are the workings of a mass of people, most of whom are not even entirely sure what they're protesting, or why.

Thus, today's events do not show that democracy is "still" alive in America. They did not even awaken and enliven democracy in America. Instead, they have weakened the state of the republic and threatened the peace. A riot team and an immense staff of state troopers were required to keep the peace last night and early this morning at the Texas Capitol, with a few arrests made for unruly behavior. Eventually, the crowd became so bad and so loud that the gallery above the senate floor was forced to be vacated. The damage from the crowd had already been done, however, as the noise had invalidated the vote and run the time limit down on the special session, causing the bill to fall through. This is not democracy, this is simple, rote mob mentality. It is something the Founding Fathers tried wholeheartedly to avoid, and something that may spell the downfall of yet another republic if it continues unchecked.