Re: The good, the bad, the Goat...

"Pure democracies get all screwed up, lead to mob rule, and a whole bunch of things go wrong, and people get assassinated."
WHOA!! Depends on what you mean by "pure" democracy. The only pure democracy I'm familiar with chose its government by lottery, and one chosen had to participate whether he wanted to or not.
This system worked extremely well (as opposed to the present failings of the "representative" democracy in our Republic). It did not lead to mob rule or assassination.
I think there is a lot to be said for pure democracy as it eliminates the influence of $$ and prevents mob rule by random selection of office holders.
Let's face it, if we replaced the current corrupt (bribe taking, child molesting, drug using, etc.) do nothing Congress (least days in session in 50 years - and no action on major issues, Iraq, illegal immigration, over-taxing of middle class, inadequate health care), with randomly selected individuals, would we be any worse off?
El Veritas