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Article: PLEBISCITE - ENEMY OF THE REPUBLIC.(Editorial)
- Article from:
- Seattle Post-Intelligencer
- Article date:
- September 1, 2000
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 Seattle Post-Intelligencer. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of the Dialog Corporation by Gale Group. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The American polity is in bad shape, perhaps the worst since 1860.
Benjamin Franklin's comment at the end of the Constitutional Convention of 1787 - for me the greatest piece of work in human history - needs to be taken seriously. A woman asked: ``Well, Dr. Franklin, what have we got?'' He answered, ``A Republic, if you can keep it.''
I genuinely fear that we are in danger of not keeping it.
The lowest voter turnouts in our history; a serious drop in the number of able young people entering public service, including elective office; the widest gap between the rich and poor; the lowest voter turnouts in our history and a steep decline in respect ...