So tonight we get treated to a State of The Union Address. What a joy! President Barack Obama has done such a wonderful job of keeping the promises he made in his previous ones!

Well, he actually hasn’t kept any of us promises in his previous SOTU addresses so let’s not bet the house on anything he offers this time either. It’s an issue. I can understand the butthurt. But there really is something more at work here. The SOTU is not supposed to be an early visitation from The Easter Bunny. Yet that, quite sadly, is what this annual, increasingly empty, ritual of state pomp has become. It is the circus at which we get promised a big pile of bread. And that, in no uncertain terms, is a symptom of a rotting republic.

When James Madison was asked by a citizen what sort of government he and the other Framers of The US Constitution were designing, he replied “A Republic, Madame, if you can keep it.” It was indeed originally intended to be what is categorized by political scientists and historians as a Democratic Republic.

As decades and centuries have passed, the United States political system has become more (small d) democratic and less (small r) republican. It has gone from being a system where the voices and demands of the people were properly heard and then adjudicated by the leavening wisdom of public servants. It is now a government where the loudest, most obnoxious voices of the most belligerent and rudest people override all judgment and concern for the future generations. In short, we have gone from a Democratic Republic to a Demotic Republic and will soon, to paraphrase Mr. Madison be darn lucky to even keep that.

This griping and whinging of the reactionary rump is all good and fine; but where does this show on the bottom line? Why should I care? What’s in it for little, old me if I give up my swag bag and quit the Free Stuff Army? In the next four years, for a majority of the voters; nothing! If your time preference is exceedingly high; your Golden Ticket is to rape it for what it’s worth. Which is exactly the base and carnal instinct our President as Carny-Barker will be playing to tonight when he stages his circus and promises you lots of bread. Be nice to Captain Howdy, and he’ll super-size those Freedom Fries!

It’s only when we take a step back that we see the cracks that line the decaying façade. We have added $7.5Tr to our national debt since 1 Jan 2009. In return for this largesse, we have not gotten any of the goodies that Santa Dem promised us.

In other countries, where the governments have gone far more Demotic and handed out many more Socialism Cookies than here in The US of A; the ongoing Visigoth Holiday at taxpayer expense is running out of free beer. In Great Britain, the head of the NHS talks of abandoning the British promise of free healthcare for all. In the end, when the Socialist Circus runs out of bread, all that remains are a bunch of clowns left to spout lies and make excuses. We’ll undoubtedly hear an earful of both as the State of The Union Circus performs in Washington, DC tonight.

*-Demotism-A system of government where the leaders are intimidated by and appease a popular mob rather than intelligently governing the state.

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