Connecticut's Constitution

MANIFESTO

There are any number of groups who are a more than a little concerned about the question being posed in Connecticut on November's ballot.

Nevertheless, the possibility of amending the state's constitution has

piqued the interest of some progressives who [feel] frozen out by the state's political elite. "We shouldn't be afraid of democracy," said Mike De Rosa, head of the Green Party in Connecticut. The party hasn't taken an official position on the question, but De Rosa said it deserves a look. Thirty-one states, including California and Massachusetts, permit direct initiative, or a similar mechanism.

"A lot of conservative groups are looking at it from their own ideological paradigm," De Rosa said. "We see it as an opportunity to free the system, to open it up to more choices and more voices. That's very frightening to people."

Ah, not being afraid of democracy. It's a noble concept, but it sure has given the US its share of morons at all levels of government. Speaking of morons, Governor Clubwoman thinks the whole idea is just swell.

And whenever I hear such sentiments regarding democracy being expressed, I can't help but think of the Sage of Baltimore's deathless definition: Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.