Uh, excuse me, please ...
No, not at all. We're a democracy, the government's legitimacy comes from the people's vote.
And, uh, just exactly
why should the
people's vote ever matter?
And just what
exactly ever made you a
democracy? Do please cite just exactly what documentation
made you a "democracy".
I am a retired US Navy Chief Petty Officer! Last drill weekend, I visited my unit four months after my retirement. And I found myself counselling a fellow chief, albeit with whiskers on my chin. Just exactly what was the basis for my authority? What was the basis for any CPO's authority? Just exactly was any petty officer's basis for authority?
In both my Navy and in yours, there is a chain of authorization for
your petty officers' authority and for
our petty officers' authority. And for
both our chiefs, albeit through different chains of authorization.
The question returns to that of: just what exactly legitimizes your government?
I'm a fucking American! (provided specifically for our UK members here: if you Brits don't see that word, "fucking", then it cannot be American -- in an episode of "Inspector Morse", the only thing that identified a character as "American" was her over-use of the word "fucking"; it became a running joke for us watching that on PBS) The defining political idea of things American is the US Constitution. So with all this idiocy that's going on this side of the Pond, albeit primarily Republican, is all in some way backed up by the US Constitution. It is the US Constitution that in one way or another backs up everything that we do (or at least until the Supreme Court finds otherwise).
OK, Brits, what justifies what
you do? You want to claim to be a democracy?
On what basis? We "Yanks" are able to make that claim and have a solid basis for that claim. What
exactly is the basis for
your claim?
Yes, I can appreciate your feelings and sentiments. My sister has been in contact with our Scottish cousins and has visited them. One remembers as a child being all dressed up and prepared for the Queen's arrival and being severely disappointed when the Queen passed by and completely ignored her.
Yes, pomp and circumstance can easily appear empty. But the legitimacy of the government is paramount!
I saw the movie with Helena Bonham Carter,
Lady Jane (1986). Lady Jane Grey, "Queen for Nine Days", against "Mary, Bloody Mary". Two different factions, both vying for the throne. Who was the legitimate ruler? Mary won out, and that is the reason I assume to be behind England's perennial mistrust of Catholics and the Monty Python perennial "Nobody ever suspects the Spanish Inquisition!" Ultimately, the question has to always be who has the legitimate claim.
Which returns us to the question of why the British peoples' vote should matter. Whether the American peoples' vote should matter is well defined by the US Constitution. So just what exactly determines what the British peoples' vote should mean?