These interesting items show that the U.S.’s democracy and government are NOT functioning adequately.

The U.S.’s government and democracy are SERIOUSLY DYSFUNCTIONAL in several ways.
Ordinary people need to understand the problems and organize from the grassroots up to solve these SYSTEMIC PROBLEMS.
Both political parties have been negligent and have caused the problems, and neither political party is solving them.

 

 

See this information about problems with the U.S.’s democracy, and how to solve them:

See this article — https://thefulcrum.us/big-picture/american-academy-of-arts-and-sciences — and see this thorough 84-page report:  https://www.amacad.org/ourcommonpurpose/report

 

 

Instead of “checks and balances” — and instead of accountability — Trump is FIRING THE WATCHDOGS that we need in order to protect us from Trump’s corrupt and dictatorial behavior!

A good non-profit organization that exposes abuses at the federal level (Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington — CREW, www.citizensforethics.org) keeps investigating and exposing abuses, corruption, etc.  In late May 2020 they reported this:

“Over the last six weeks, President Trump has intensified his all-out war on accountability. He has taken steps to oust five independent watchdogs, which is worrisome on its own, but when you examine the consequences and reasons behind the firing of those inspectors general (IGs), it’s even more chilling.

“Late Friday night, May 15, President Trump effectively pushed out two IGs, announcing that he was planning to fire State Department IG Steve Linick, and that he was removing acting Department of Transportation IG Mitch Behm and replacing him with a political appointee who will now divide his time between the Office of Inspector General and leading another DOT office. Read CREW Executive Director Noah Bookbinder’s op-ed about how Trump’s attacks on watchdogs are chipping away at checks and balances:  https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/trump-s-firing-government-watchdogs-chips-away-america-s-checks-ncna1212391?link_id=1&can_id=1d662460c0abb8939c5044c82927552b&source=email-fw-donalds-email-2&email_referrer=email_813509___subject_1097554&email_subject=what-you-need-to-know-about-watchdogs

“Trump’s attacks on the DOT OIG are particularly troubling in light of the fact that Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao was under investigation by Behm for favoritism benefiting her husband Senator Mitch McConnell’s political prospects. Ousting acting IG Behm casts the future of the investigation into doubt. The new acting IG, Howard Elliot, was already vetted by McConnell and confirmed by the Senate to lead the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. Read more about this troubling attack on oversight —  https://www.citizensforethics.org/trump-removed-watchdog-investigating-elaine-chao-mcconnell-vetted-replacement/?link_id=2&can_id=1d662460c0abb8939c5044c82927552b&source=email-fw-donalds-email-2&email_referrer=email_813509___subject_1097554&email_subject=what-you-need-to-know-about-watchdogs  — and read about our investigation to uncover more information:  https://www.citizensforethics.org/foia/dot-inspector-general-elaine-chao/?link_id=3&can_id=1d662460c0abb8939c5044c82927552b&source=email-fw-donalds-email-2&email_referrer=email_813509___subject_1097554&email_subject=what-you-need-to-know-about-watchdogs

CREW’s e-mail went further, but you gte the idea.

 

 

Robert Reich cites someone’s information that asserts that in SIX ways, the U.S. is very much like a “developing” country instead of a rich country:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0dQAUb22WA&feature=youtu.be

 

 

During a pandemic, we need competent, honest governmental information, actions and services, but we are NOT getting them:

https://www.pogo.org/analysis/2020/03/government-we-need-during-the-coronavirus-pandemic&s_src=jlm114-eng-d&utm_source=2020-sub-d&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=eng-effectiveness-20200317&utm_content=btn&autologin=true/?emci=559e8e08-6468-ea11-a94c-00155d03b5dd&emdi=1c476f65-6f68-ea11-a94c-00155d03b5dd&ceid=19751

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About GlenAnderson 1499 Articles
Since the late 1960s Glen Anderson has devoted his life to working as a volunteer for peace, nonviolence, social justice, and progressive political issues. He has worked through many existing organizations and started several. Over the years he has worked especially for such wide-ranging goals as making peace with Vietnam, eliminating nuclear weapons, converting from a military economy to a peacetime economy, abolishing the death penalty, promoting nonviolence at all levels throughout society, and helping people organize and strategize for grassroots movements to solve many kinds of problems. He writes, speaks, and conducts training workshops on a wide variety of topics. Since 1987 he has produced and hosted a one-hour cable TV interview program on many kinds of issues. Since 2017 he has blogged at https://parallaxperspectives.org He lives in Lacey near Olympia WA. You can reach him at (360) 491-9093 glen@parallaxperspectives.org