Old Guy, to me, personally, the vision you have of democracy is very different than mine, or that which I think the Constitution represents. You seem to feel that the only influence citizens should have is once a year (or thereabouts) at elections. As imperative and important as voting is, the problem with this, to me, is that the only people that ever discuss issues are then the politicians. ANd lord knows most of them have nothing of substance to say, and frequently lie about it anyway. Just voting isn't much of a choice when both (or more) candidates are all equally inept.

"Demos" = People
"Kratos" = Authority

If the authority is invested in the people, then the definition of a democratic citizen is one whom exercises influence over their representatives and holds them accountable for their actions. Citizenship is not passive, it's an active responsibility. We may elect representatives for the sake of expediency, but that doesn't mean that representative then takes on dictatorial powers until the next election.

Freedom of speech is not just enshrined in our Constitution because it's a nice idea. The framers understood that words and free action are some of the most powerful weapons that can be wielded against a government which acts against the interest of the people. If history has shown us anything, it's that politicians aren't perfect, governments are corrupt, and democracy works best when the citizens are involved and paying attention. Freedom of speech is necessary to inform the citizenry of all sides of the issues at hand; free elections cannot be held without a free discussion of the issues.

It's not disrespectful to speak up when we disagree with the government, it's our civic duty. This year, the government wants us to go to war. You may agree 100% with everything THIS administration says, but if the government is the only one talking, you can't make an informed decision. What if they were saying something else? Would you meekly accept that you must just be a stupid citizen, and the benevolent government knows better than you? Democracy = People-Authority. It may be a great priviledge, but the government is also the responsibility of every citizen.

I'd like nothing better than to have my elected representatives in Congress holding an open and meaningful discussion about the pros and cons of the situation in Iraq. When they don't uphold their constitutional responsibility, it falls on the citizenry (People-Authority.) to hold them accountable. They represent us and our opinions, not dictate those opinions to us.

You mentioned earlier that you thought the protestors weren't accepting the majority opinion. That's not true -- if they weren't, there wouldn't be peace marches, there would be open rebellion against the government. It's nice to chat and write emails to your Congressperson, but showing up in person is the ultimate expression of your participation in a democracy. I'm sorry you don't understand what an incredibly historic event happened last weekend that so many millions worldwide turned out to protest a war before the first bomb was dropped. It was utterly unprecedented. Voices and opinions were heard. Now the politicians of the world can choose, or not, to heed them -- that's representation in action. What does it say about the power of this protest that countries like Syria and Lebanon that have no real precedent of free speech found the power of democracy by the hundreds of thousands? Impressive. Almost overwhelming.

I'm glad you vote; too many people don't even bother to do that anymore. Most of them don't feel like their votes matter because the policians don't listen to them no matter what they do. Maybe they need to state their opinions more often, not less.

/philosophical mode off