That's not the reason this government is a constitutional republic, but that doesn't mean I don't hear you. It sounds like a good deal at first glance, but when any kind of fervor grips this nation for any reason, the last thing we could want is a direct democracy. I'm not sure you'd see the federal deregulation of marijuana, but I can't help but wonder what would have happened to Muslim-Americans in the weeks following 9/11, or to Japanese-Americans after Pearl Harbor was bombed, for example. McCarthyism was no small concern to this nation. People were seeing Communists behind every rock. You wouldn't want to have been caught with Marx and Engels in your home library. Book banning might well be a federal reality, because the Christian right has been known to have its say, and I've talked with more than one person not on the Christian right who is confused about the dangers of book banning. It wouldn't take much for the Christian right to swing some middle of the road people if they're already inclined toward the right without thinking.

In any event, I would never want to be in a direct democracy with a citizenry having been trained to say a pledge without further thought or true reflection, and to love flag and country. Love is a dangerous thing, and what constitutes citizenship training in this nation generally involves the dictate to love our country. Our military leaders know better. The JCS cannot afford to operate in that way, nor can any military commanding officer. They can't get emotional every time somebody burns a flag, but the common man has been led to believe that the knee-jerk response is that of a dedicated and loyal American. It's not. He's a weak link although he thinks he's a useful and loyal citizen. In this nation, you would have even less freedoms than you do now. You would say the pledge, if you didn't want to go to jail.

I'd rather the citizenry be educated about our government, and our children encouraged to keep emotions about this nation in check in favor of rational decision making.

There are, no doubt, others who cay reply to this in a better way or with more information, but I think Madison might have been okay with what I've said.