Our government was unique at the time it was created. Think about the forms of government in the world. Some of the better known in history include a monarchy where there is a government of one ordained to lead. Oligarchy means a government by the few elite and is justified by the argument that only the few are fit to govern. Aristocracy means government by the best because the rest are not as qualified to run the country. Plutocracy means government by the wealthy and is justified by the argument that they have the biggest stake in the country and are entitled to govern. Socialism is a system of state or collective ownership and administration of goods with equal opportunity for all people. Communism involves a classless, stateless society based on common ownership of production and property. Feudalism existed in old Europe and is based on the holding of land in fee with a relationship of lord to vassal. Fascism is an single party state in which government is led by a dictator who directs the nation to collective unity over individual self interest. Democracy is unique. It is intended to be a government of the people, by the people and for the people.

Our government is not a true democracy, but rather a republic type of government. We have a system in which a group of citizens form a political unit under a charter (constitution) that provides for the election of representatives who have the power to govern the state. That was how our country began under our constitution.

The problem is that under the Bush administration and with the cooperation of the Republican Congress our constitutional form of government has been undermined. The list of constitutional violations is a long one. To cite only a few, there are signing statements by  President Bush in which he refused to follow laws passed by Congress in violation of the separation of powers provision. He set a record using this tactic - more then all the 43 previous presidents in U.S. history. Then there is the USA Patriot Act resulting in virtually all rights to privacy being eliminated and due process of law under the constitution ignored.

This administration has repeatedly claimed immunity from having to respond to Congressional investigations more then any previous administration. This fraud even included the ridiculous claim of vice president Cheney that the office of the vice president isn’t part of the executive branch and not required to respond. 

We have seen this administration change federal agencies responsible for monitoring and enforcement warped into lap dogs obediently following the Bush political agenda. Scientific data disputing adminstration claims or policy has been suppressed or even re-written. Agency employees who refuse to go along have been fired.

We have seen every kind of constitutional rights violated in the name of the war on terrorism. One the greatest military mistakes in our history was the result of a war which the administration justified by deliberate lies.

The Obama administration inherits more crisis then any previous newly elected administration. We hope Congress and the Obama administration deal with these problems. We also hope that with a change we will see  constitutional rights restored and America honoring the guarantees of our constitution.