Friday, December 30, 2016

Defeating Democracy

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

The venerable Federal Bureau of Investigation as well as the Central Intelligence Agency have both gone on record as saying that Russia interfered in the United States general election of 2016 - and that it did so for the benefit of Donald J. Trump.  That's a big problem for this fragile creature that we call democracy - the very principle upon which our nation was built. 

President Obama invoked sanctions against Russia for this flagrant violation of our national sovereignty.   He is sending three dozen or so diplomats back home to Russia and closed a couple of Russian facilities in the U.S.  His actions were meant to be an insult to the Big Bear, but in actuality they have very little practical effect - so little effect, in fact, that Russian leader Vladimir Putin essentially just blew them off and said Russia would wait on its good friend, Donald J. Trump, to take over the United States.   

Back in the good old days when we had three healthy and vibrant branches of government, Congress and the courts might have also weighed in on this Russian incursion into our democracy - but not now.  The President makes a bit of noise, not much, and Congress and the courts sit disinterested and wrapped in silence.

In better days, this election would have been railed against and dragged into court.  In better days, but not today.  Today we roll over and go back to sleep.

Democracy has suffered a beating, and she knows it.

1 comment:

Xobekim said...

Let’s not declare Democracy and the branches of government dead too quickly. It is true that Mitch McConnell put the kibosh on letting the American people know of these shenanigans while the election was still underway. Obama got a bi-partisan group of Congressional leaders to discuss this & Mitch said no. For his efforts his wife is Trump’s pick to head the Transportation Department. Maybe that embarrassing bridge from Ohio to Kentucky will now get some attention.

But, your old leathered friend, the Arizona sidewinder & senior U.S. Senator McCain with his lap dog Senator Graham are gearing up, McConnell be damned, to conduct hearings on the cyber version of Pearl Harbor. Democrats are gleefully joining the fracas.

The courts do sit silently. That’s what the courts do. In America judges and justices sit by deciding those issues already before them. They do not drum up business. American courts do not have a self starting feature which is a good thing as it tends to keep American Justice above partisan brushfires.

Putin and his puppet haven’t pulled this off completely, yet.