Democracy has been defined as two wolves and a lamb voting on what is for lunch. The classic story of this is the death of Socrates. The democratically elected city fathers voted to kill Socrates, reputedly in hopes that he would leave Athens. He did not, instead accepting the judgement and drinking the hemlock.
Today, we are not short of examples. Condi Rice insisted the Gaza Strip hold democratic elections and they replaced the PLO with Hamas. Egypt replaced one dictator with the candidate of the Muslim Brotherhood, who immediately replaced the Egyptian constitution with a theocratic power document and the democratically elected president assumed all powers unto himself. All persons not fundamentalist Muslim came under attack, often fatal. The previously secular society had its economy implode, so the Egyptian army stepped in. It appears they may well have a civil war to decide the outcome.
We have various senators now calling on the Egyptian military to quickly return to democratic rule, even though a new election would re-elect the Muslim Brotherhood with the same consequences. In the meantime, these senators demand the military should not suppress the riots--which are burning Coptic Christian churches and killing Christians.
Our illustrious senators also call for an immediate cessation of the $1.3-billion in military aid. Considering the other Arab countries, opposed to the Muslim Brotherhood, are already supplying $12-billion in aid, cutting off the US aid would have little effect other than removing the US from any future influence. If the Muslim Brotherhood wins, we will have no influence; if the Egyptian army wins, the secular society will be to their benefit and the reason they strive--not our 10% contribution to their aid.
This is an Arab argument about who they want to be--and inserting our two-cents worth will be resented. The Muslim Brotherhood has telegraphed they will not give up, so the Egyptian army will have to destroy them--and they know it. That is why they are receiving the $12-billion from other Arab states.
This potentially dark side of democracy is also why revising the vote in the US Senate to a simple majority is not the best idea. If an idea cannot accumulate a few votes from the minority party, it probably shouldn't become law. This seeming inefficiency is a major check for minority rights.
As Mr. Franklin so adroitly put it, "We have a Republic, if we can keep it."
