Barack Obama

and protesters dragged the information out, created an outcry, and ended it.

Do you think that was an isolated incident?

Democracy, representative, direct, or otherwise, does NOT function by voters silently assenting to whatever their elected representatives decide. It never has, and it never will.

Anyone who is heeding that approach is just ceding the field to others. When does the oil lobby sit back and trust in the wisdom of government? When do defense contractors go silent and nod approvingly at whatever Congress decides?

The quieter WE are, the louder all of those other voices become. In the absence of speech and pressure and complaint from the public, you get corporatocracy, because monied interests are NEVER silent.

This is why LBJ told MLK to "make him" pass the Civil Rights Act.

Obama, by the way, has made similar exhortations to the people to hold his feet to the fire. When the actual fire meets the actual feet, he may feel differently, but as a statesman he understands the concept as well.

Political impetus for change does not begin and end with representatives' own initiatives. They don't even write legislation for the most part. It comes to them from interest groups. So if groups are not representing your needs and your vision, you can be damn sure it's going to represent someone else's.

Defense has plenty of secrecy. The fact that it does simply means democracy has a harder time penetrating, because only the most well-connected voices are heard. This is why we outspend the next 10 countries combined in "defense," while our leaders wail that we have no money for healthcare or roads or social safety nets.

Silent democracy is dead democracy.