Requirements for the Job

I was listening to Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan's reply to an inane question from one of the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee this evening that was being replayed on the radio.  Part of her answer caused my to shout at the radio,

IT'S A REPUBLIC!

When a Supreme Court nominee does not know that we live in a constitutional republic and not a constitutional democracy, shouldn't that automatically disqualify the nominee?  Not that she is alone in this particular mistake.  A good portion of Congress thinks the same thing.  Our founding fathers had this to say about democracy.

Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.  - John Adams

Perhaps Elena Kagan should go back to school and leave the Supreme Court seat to someone who at least knows which form of government the Constitution of the United States established.