Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter is so concerned about the NSA spying scandal that he thinks it has essentially resulted in a suspension of American democracy.
“America does not at the moment have a functioning democracy,” he said at an event in Atlanta on Tuesday sponsored by the Atlantik Bruecke, a private nonprofit association working to further the German-U.S. relationship. The association’s name is German for “Atlantic bridge.”
Link here.
Another comment Carter has made, which I found in the very excellent book "Steal Your Vote", which I will paraphrase, is that his election oversight organization would never attempt to monitor a US election, as our voting system is too dysfunctional.
ReplyDeleteThe NSA isn't why we have a non-functioning democracy. The reason is that we have a President who wants to run the Judicial branch, a Judicial branch which makes the laws, and a Legislative branch which hasn't passed a budget on time in years.
ReplyDeleteWe don't have a democracy - we have a republic. A democracy requires an educated, involved citizenry who can place the needs of the whole ahead of their personal needs. A republic elects representatives who can hopefully do what is best for us, not give us immediate and short-term gratification.
ReplyDeleteWe can't even find representatives to accurately put our needs ahead of their own need to remain in power.