US democracy on life support

We know from Thursday night that when his close aides pleaded with him to call off the attack, he refused, spending 187 minutes watching events unfold on TV in the White House dining room while swatting away increasingly desperate pleas for him to act until it was clear that his hopes of violently overthrowing the election had faded.

To those who track anti-democratic movements there is a chilling familiarity to this rich evocation of a president descending into an abyss of fantasy, fury and possible illegality. “The picture that the hearings depict is of a coup leader,” said the Harvard political scientist Steven Levitsky. “This is a guy who was unwilling to accept defeat and was prepared to use virtually any means to try to stay illegally in power.”

Read more at: ahttps://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jul/23/january-6-hearings-us-democracy-roadmap-autocracy

The US is not a Democracy anymore and Unions and street protests are now the only democratic forces left to stop Corporate Capital to completely take over Democracy in the US and other democratic nations

America faces a crisis of corporate capture of democratic government, where the economic power of corporations has been translated into political power with disastrous effects for people’s lives. 

In his new book, Captured: The Corporate Infiltration of American Democracy, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) warns that “corporations of vast wealth and remorseless staying power have moved into our politics to seize for themselves advantages that can be seized only by control over government.” The book illustrates what he calls, the “immense pressure deployed by the corporate sector in our government.” We must rebalance our democracy by changing the rules to limit the power of money over government and empower people to engage politically as a countervailing force.

Currently, the domination of big money over our public institutions prevents government from being responsive to Americans. This certainly is not a new phenomenon—but it is growing. Even in 2009, before the Citizens United v. FEC ruling removed constraints on corporate political spending, 80 percent of Americans agreed with the following statement:

I am worried that large political contributions will prevent Congress from tackling the important issues facing American today, like the economic crisis, rising energy costs, reforming health care, and global warming.

In the first presidential contest after the Citizens United decision, 84 percent of Americans agreed that corporate political spending drowns out the voices of average Americans, and 83 percent believed that corporations and corporate CEOs have too much political power and influence. This aligns with more recent research showing that 84 percent of people think government is benefitting special interests, and 83 percent think government is benefitting big corporations and the wealthy.

As already noted, the undue influence of corporate interests on the functions of government is not new, and Sen. Whitehouse’s book explains how Americans have faced and overcome this threat before.

 America’s founders recognized the danger of corporate capture: In 1816, Thomas Jefferson warned the new republic to “crush in its birth the aristocracy of our monied corporations which dare already to challenge our government to a trial of strength, and bid defiance to the laws of their country.” Almost a century later, President Theodore Roosevelt, in his annual address to Congress in 1907, said:The fortunes amassed through corporate organization are now so large, and vest such power in those that wield them, as to make it a matter of necessity to give to the sovereign—that is, to the Government, which represents the people as a whole—some effective power of supervision over their corporate use.

Read more at; https://www.americanprogress.org/article/corporate-capture-threatens-democratic-government/

 

Populism: imminent danger to democracy and capitalism or not?

Many academics and commentators are sounding the alarm about the threat that rising populism poses to the stability of liberal democracies. Others respond that populism is, on the contrary, a sign of democratic resilience, providing a necessary corrective that will help address popular grievances, curtail the excessive power of elites and make political systems more democratic.

Read more at:

https://institute.global/policy/populist-harm-democracy-empirical-assessment

Our Planet: it's time for a real revolution

There are many corrupt countries in the world today, who go after revolutionaries, who fight against the lack of Democracy and other injustices, in their areas of the world. 

They will, however, never be able to stop a global revolution, which stands for the principal causes that our planet, inhabited by us, the human race, which deserves much better care, and treatment, than it has had so far. 

All this, mainly a result of, tribalism, corrupt politicians, the war industry, the corporate industrial complex, and pollution.

Yes folks, it's wake-up time for the human race. Join the revolution, and help, using the individual skills you each have, io clean up the mess. at every level, in which our planet finds itself today.

Read more at: https//www.eu-digest.blogspot.com

Russia: Legal system in Russia not impartial, as all critcs of Russian war in Ukraine getting lengthy prison sentences

Russian opposition politician Ilya Yashin guilty was found guilty on Friday of spreading "fake information" about the army, and sentenced to eight and a half years in prison.

Prosecutors had sought a nine-year sentence for the Moscow district councillor. The outcome is the latest indication of an intensified crackdown on dissent by Russian authorities.

"With that hysterical sentence, the authorities want to scare us all but it effectively shows their weakness," Yashin said in a statement through his lawyers after the judge passed the sentence. "Only the weak want to shut everyone's mouth and eradicate any dissent."

Read more at: https://www.euronews.com

China: popular uprising against Covid restrictions increase and now also include protests against lack of democracy in China

A protest poster showing a Friedmann equation was purportedly held up by students in Beijing's prestigious Tsinghua University - a play on the word "Friedmann", which sounds similar to "free 的 man" - quite literally translated to "a man who is free".

Friedmann is a Russian physicist and mathematician best-known for his work on the theory of relativity and for introducing the possibility of an expanding universe - a concept that may not have been lost on the protesting students.

Read more at: https://www.bbc.com 

EU in crises mode?: Turkish author tells audience at Bruxelles conference that Europe is experiencing similar problems, as the US in safe-guarding democracy

Russia's war in Ukraine and the economic impact it is having on Europe have underscored an ongoing "crisis of democracy" that won't be fixed with small changes, a renowned Turkish political author has warned. 

"There is real panic in Europe and I feel it everywhere I go," Ece Temelkuran, author of "How to Lose a Country: The 7 Steps from Democracy to Dictatorship", told Euronews.

She was speaking on the margin of a conference in Brussels organised by think tank Friends of Europe and entitled "Making sense of transitions in an age of crises: a Renewed Social Contract for a new era."

Read more at: https://www.euronews.com

US Midterm Elections 2022: will American Democracy be able to survive the onslaught of radical right-wing political forces

With the United States midterm elections just around the corner, three University of Rochester political science professors consider what’s at stake. Through the lens of their respective research focuses, Gerald Gamm, Gretchen Helmke, and James Johnson discuss political hyperpolarization, what happens when losers don’t concede elections, the likelihood of civil war, and the outlook for US democracy.

Read more at:    https://www.rochester.edu/newscenter/2022-midterm-elections-us-democracy-539632/    

US Democracy in danger': time is ticking as midterm elections are approaching

Less than six weeks before the U.S. midterm elections and after an explosive spring and summer of Jan. 6 congressional hearings, some analysts are sounding the alarm on what they say are serious threats to American democracy.

There's the ongoing impact of disinformation and hyperpolarization, as well as a sizable segment of the public that now questions the results of the 2020 election. Public trust in the government is at a near-historic low, polling shows, and 43 per cent of respondents in one poll said they think a civil war could be likely in the next decade. 

Read more at: https://www.cbc.com

 

USA: How Corporate Power Killed Democracy - by Richard Moser

The rise of Corporate Power was the fall of democracy. Over the long haul, US politics has revolved around a deep tension between democracy and an unrelenting drive for plunder, power and empire. Granted that our democracy has been seriously flawed and only rarely revolutionary, yet the democratic movements are the source of every good thing America has ever stood for.

Since the mid-1970s, when the corporations fused with the state, a new imperial order emerged that killed what remained of representative democracy. Not only would corporations exercise public authority as only government once had, but government would coordinate and serve corporate activity. Power and profits became one and the same. Corporate power has replaced democracy with oligarchy and justice with a vast militarized penal system. Instead of innovative production, they plunder people and planet.

To achieve this new order, elections and the economy had to be drained of any remaining democratic content. Both Democrats and Republicans were eager to have at it.

By the 1990s “Third Way” Democrats like Bill Clinton abandoned what was left of the New Deal to try to outdo the Republicans as the party of Wall Street. The Republicans pioneered election fraud on a national scale in 2000, 2004, and 2016; a lesson the Democrats learned all too well by the 2016 Primary. Neither major party wants election reform since free and fair elections would threaten the system itself.

So-called private corporations like Facebook, Google and Twitter control information and manage the 1st Amendment. The corporate media now broadcast propaganda and play the role of censor once monopolized by the FBI and CIA. The migration of propaganda work to civilian organizations began under Ronald Reagan.

Read more at: How Corporate Power Killed Democracy - CounterPunch.org

Democracy in decline: How Corporate Power Killed Democracy - the Fusion of the Corporation and the State

The rise of Corporate Power was the fall of democracy. Over the long haul, US politics has revolved around a deep tension between democracy and an unrelenting drive for plunder, power and empire. Granted that our democracy has been seriously flawed and only rarely revolutionary, yet the democratic movements are the source of every good thing America has ever stood for.

Since the mid-1970s, when the corporations fused with the state, a new imperial order emerged that killed what remained of representative democracy. Not only would corporations exercise public authority as only government once had, but government would coordinate and serve corporate activity. Power and profits became one and the same. Corporate power has replaced democracy with oligarchy and justice with a vast militarized penal system. Instead of innovative production, they plunder people and planet. To achieve this new order, elections and the economy had to be drained of any remaining democratic content. Both Democrats and Republicans were eager to have at it.

By the 1990s “Third Way” Democrats like Bill Clinton abandoned what was left of the New Deal to try to outdo the Republicans as the party of Wall Street. The Republicans pioneered election fraud on a national scale in 2000, 2004, and 2016; a lesson the Democrats learned all too well by the 2016 Primary. Neither major party wants election reform since free and fair elections would threaten the system itself.

So-called private corporations like Facebook, Google and Twitter control information and manage the 1st Amendment. The corporate media now broadcast propaganda and play the role of censor once monopolized by the FBI and CIA. The migration of propaganda work to civilian organizations began under Ronald Reagan.

Read more at: How Corporate Power Killed Democracy - CounterPunch.org

USA-Russian Relations: Team Putin in a Panic Over Jan. 6 Hearings ‘Lynching Trump’

The House select committee’s primetime Jan. 6. hearings are causing conniptions in Moscow.

The attempted insurrection was embraced by the Kremlin as cause célèbre, with Russian President Vladimir Putin himself calling for an investigation into the death of Ashli Babbitt, who was part of the crowd attacking the U.S. Capitol. Russia’s state-controlled media obsessively covered the notorious attack, praising the would-be insurrectionists as law-abiding protesters and criticizing the United States for prosecuting them. But now, propagandists seem to be concerned that the hearings may negatively impact the chances of re-election for their so-called “partner,” former U.S. President Donald J. Trump.

A Yahoo news report

USA Derailing - What is happening to Amerca ? - my favorite beacon of Democracy - by RM

To all of us who care and still have an interest in the survival of the US as a beacon of Democracy, things are not looking good.

In Ohio at the Republican primary, the candidate supported by the former president, a crook, lier, imposter, who should be in jail, won the primary.

This, in a country where now all major Social Media is in hands of US oligarchs, while no proper gun control laws in the US are resulting in the death of a record number of US innocent lives.

Internationally, in Ukraine, the population is slowly but surely being exterminated by Russian troops, led by the crazed power hungry Putin, while the US and her Western allies are too scared to issue Putin an ultimatum to negotiate or else, for fear of a nuclear war, giving Putin the opportunity to continue nibbling away at Europe, All this while China becomes the new Global Power, which in a way is already happened.
.
ANYWAY In order to end this pessimistic note with a French conclusion: "Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose : the more that changes, the more it's the same thing ".

Read more at: kttpa://www.eu-digest.blogspot.com

Democracy is in crisis - Opinion

If you think the United States is the only country plagued with conspiracy theories that threaten societal cohesion and democracy as a whole, you're wrong.

Almost three-quarters of Republican Party supporters in the United States believe Joe Biden is not the legitimate president of the country. Overall, 15% of the American population support the claim by the militant right-wing conspiracy conglomerate "QAnon" that the United States government, business, and media are "controlled by a group of Satan-worshipping pedophiles who sexually enslave children all over

Let's turn to Germany. According to a newly published representative poll by the Allensbach Institute, a third of all Germans believe they live in a "sham democracy" in which "citizens have no say." Are we living in a sham democracy?

Read more at: Görlach Global: Democracy is in crisis | Opinion | DW | 15.04.2022

Russia: Who is Alexei Navalny? The leader behind Russia’s anti-Putin protests, explained. -

The greatest challenger to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s rule is a man whose name the dictator won’t say and whom he has tried to kill: Alexei Navalny.

Having defiantly returned to Russia after surviving a brazen assassination attempt only to be immediately detained and thrown in jail upon arrival, the opposition leader and anti-corruption crusader has rallied tens of thousands of supporters to his cause like never before — a real sign of trouble for Putin’s hold on power.

Alexei Navalny has spent over a decade trying to overthrow Putin. Through slick videos, public mobilization, and even an ill-fated presidential run against the autocrat, Navalny has aimed to expose Kremlin corruption and malfeasance.

Read more at: Who is Alexei Navalny? The leader behind Russia’s anti-Putin protests, explained. - Vox

USA: Jan. 6 anniversary most Americans feel US democracy is in peril - by Chelsey Cox, Amy Nakamura

A suggestion posed by Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas during an interview on Fox News Channel to use Federal Emergency Management Agency resources in expanding COVID-19 testing access was shot down by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga, on social media.

"No FEMA should not set up testing sites to check for Omicron sneezes, coughs, and runny noses," Greene posted to her Gab.com account Sunday. "He needs to stop calling himself conservative, he’s hurting our brand."

Read more Jan. 6 anniversary most Americans feel US democracy is in peril

USA: Biden says U.S. democracy under threat on Capitol riot anniversary

U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday accused his predecessor, Donald Trump, of spreading a "web of lies" to undermine U.S. democracy in a speech on the anniversary of the deadly U.S. Capitol attack by Trump supporters who tried to undo his 2020 election defeat.

Speaking at the white-domed building where rioters smashed windows, assaulted police and sent lawmakers fleeing for their lives on Jan. 6, 2021, Biden warned that Trump's false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him through widespread voting fraud could undermine the rule of law and subvert future elections.

"A former president of the United States of America has created and spread a web of lies about the 2020 election. He's done so because he values power over principle," Biden said. "He can't accept he lost."

Read more at: Biden says U.S. democracy under threat on Capitol riot anniversary | CBC News

USA: As Joe Biden Touts Global Democracy, Signs Point to Concern Nearer to Home

While President Joe Biden looks to tout global democracy in the coming days, signs point to concern at home on the matter—and a potential lack of public desire to intervene elsewhere.

Biden hosts the first White House Summit for Democracy over the next two days, in which he will urge those attending to commit to "reversing the democratic recession and ensuring that democracies deliver for their people."

Read more at: As Joe Biden Touts Global Democracy, Signs Point to Concern Nearer to Home

USA: Republicans are quietly rigging election maps to ensure permanent rule - by David Pepper

The long-term health of American democracy is in peril, to a degree far worse than people imagine. But not where most people are looking.

While many eyes go to Washington DC or Mar-a-Lago, the attack on democracy is actually most concentrated and coordinated in state capitals. Whether it’s gerrymandering or voter suppression or attacks on offices that provide needed checks and balances – the states have become widely undemocratic. As I outline in my book Laboratories of Autocracy, the consequences of this anti-democratic movement are only getting worse.

Read more at: Republicans are quietly rigging election maps to ensure permanent rule | David Pepper | The Guardian

USA: When Mob Rule Comes to the United States of America - BY A. Bayer and S. Richter

“The word ‘revolution’,” Kerensky wrote, “is quite inapplicable to what happened in Russia. A whole world of national and political relationships sank to the bottom, and at once all existing political and tactical programs, however bold and well-conceived, appeared hanging aimlessly and uselessly in space.”

Kerensky was describing the emergence of a mob, which swept Czar Nicholas II from the throne in February 1917 and shook all institutions of the Russian state to the core.

Read more at: When Mob Rule Comes to the United States of America - The Globalist