The people of the world watch in awe and amazement at what is happening in and to America; they are watching as the self-proclaimed greatest democracy in the history of the world is imploding right before their eyes. They see a country that has lost its vision and its stability, weighed down by a government that is no longer capable of governing.
Yes, this is the same America that never tires of making it known to the world that it is the greatest democracy in history, one with a government that has been working tirelessly to spread it across this planet whether other nations want it or not -- often by the use of aggressive military force. The demise of this "model of democracy" must be a truly shocking turn of events but for many nations who are tired of the hubris and bullying it would seem to be a very welcome example of poetic justice.
If America has, in fact, lost its democracy then what will replace it? That question has already been answered. The fact is that this nation has already evolved into a full-fledged corporatocracy, an economic and political system controlled by corporations or corporate interests. The masters of Corporatism have used their unlimited and unrestrained money and power to take command of the government. In military terms, it might be called a bloodless coup.
Their #1 objective has been to completely paralyze the government and neuter its primary functions. The main sub-objectives include: the total destruction of the Affordable Care Act and any and all social programs, the removal of all restrictions on Wall Street and the corporate world, the watering down or elimination of rules and regulations governing mining, emissions, and safeguards for water and air pollution; they have suffocated the government's involvement in the creation of jobs. In effect they are working within the government to destroy the functions of government; and they have succeeded brilliantly.
A good example of how this transformation from a democracy to a corporatocracy has been accomplished can be evidenced by the fact that we are currently in the midst of a national crisis as the shutdown of the government continues and a debt ceiling crisis looms on the horizon. If we still had a strong, viable democracy this kind of crisis would never have occurred but we don't and so this is what happens.
The way that this Congress now functions is diametrically opposed to that of what the Founding Fathers had originally envisioned. It's so very inept and useless that it's almost hilarious and it reminds me of the time I heard an analyst on a cable news show use a reference from a 1970's song by Stephen Sondheim: she said in joking about some governmental issue, they should "Send in the clowns" but the other host stopped her and said, "They're already here sitting in the chambers of the House and the Senate."
And if you doubt that this is a fair and accurate assessment of the situation, what about the fact that we currently have a real clown, the Speaker of the House, one individual out of the 535 members of the Congress who, evidently has the power to singlehandedly shut down the government and hold the people of America hostage until and unless he get his way and is allowed to destroy ObamaCare. Only in America; what a country!
Yes we sure have a lot of clowns in this Congress but what they are doing is really not funny. They have effectively torn down our fragile democracy which is now hanging by a thread. They act as if the Constitution is, as G.W. Bush once "allegedly" stated, "It's just a ---damned piece of paper." To many of these pseudo-lawmakers it's just that and the oath that they took when they entered office, that "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support the Constitution of the United States" is nothing more than a mechanical statement that means absolutely nothing.
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