[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by Mr.Coffee

Come on now. If it isn't clearly tampered elections from foreign sources, to a bizarre electoral system where the person with the most votes lost the election, to a system designed to benefit the rich in an ever-increasing fashion, to a system which now has more similarities to a broken class paradigm and crumbling institutions... I think you know what I am getting at.

Ah, so now you're beginning to understand my extremely jaded perspective on American democracy. You can argue that both parties are bad, but one is clearly the greater evil in the destructive forces behind the failure of democracy in the United States. There are many issues that I lean more right on than I do left, but I just cannot find myself supporting an ideology that is so focused on the enrichment of the few at the expense of the many.

Two seconds onto wikipedia, under the word "democracy"... let's see:

"According to political scientist Larry Diamond, democracy consists of four key elements: (a) A political system for choosing and replacing the government through free and fair elections; (b) The active participation of the people, as citizens, in politics and civic life; (c) Protection of the human rights of all citizens, and (d) A rule of law, in which the laws and procedures apply equally to all citizens.[4]"

You must certainly understand that American democracy is substantially different than the pure form of democracy this definition addresses. It always has, and always will be, different from other forms of democracy because this is the way the institutions are established.

-Political system through free and fair elections? Nope.
-Active participation of people, as citizens in politics and civic life? Debateable, but fine I'll give them this one.
-Protection of human rights of all citizens? Nope.
-Rule of law, in which laws and procedures apply equally to all citizens? Clearly not.

Here's a concept for you to try and wrap your head around. I theorize there are three specific entities which assert influence and control over the political process. The surface state is that which the citizens have influence over. The deep state is where the true seat of power resides, hidden in the think tanks, special interests, and their rich benefactors, residing in Washington. The dark state is that which is obscured from public view, the many agencies which provide intelligence and control the real power in geo-politics.

The oppression of which you speak is driven by the separation of citizens rather than the unification of all people. This is by design, and been that way as a result of the power vacuum created by the deep state, and supported by the dark state. The surface is mostly political theatre, but still acts as a possible control mechanism over both other states, if the people assume control. The Republicans have abdicated their role and responsibility as one of those controls, and they have sold their soul to the deep state.

The US is the most hypocritical nation on Earth. They claim they're capitalists, then they bail out GM. They claim their the land of the free, they're not. They claim to have human rights, and the violate that. They claim to be above corruption and bribery, and yet hundreds of thousands are still murdered with gun violence when the majority of people want gun restrictions. Can't get done.

You will get no argument from me on these comments. The deep state is the one which drives policy and has created this mess. They operate on the fringes of the democratic process and beyond the restrictions of the constitution. They design these policies to be restrictive, to steal away the freedoms of people, but wrap them in the flag and with patriotic sounding names that the brainwashed masses will blindly support.

It's broken, and it sure as #### isn't "democratic"- at least a functioning one based on what the founding fathers envisioned.

It isn't the traditional form of democracy, but it is the American form of democracy. Yes, its mostly bull####, but it is the system that we Americans have to live under and learn to work in our favor. The secret to winning a battle against the deep and dark states is to make them war against each other, while the people assume control over the surface state. The cost of running for office pretty much makes this strategy impossible to achieve.

God bless America. Pass the ammunition.