"Do you think it's possible that if you were to wake up one morning and come to the realization that your freedom is hanging by a thread, that you wouldn't do anything more than get dressed and go to work, as if it were the same as any other day? Is it possible that our freedom and our country could be lost inch by inch without one defining moment to mark the transformation from freedom to oppression, and is it possible that we could miss hearing the call when it comes, or if we do hear it, simply be too tired or not have the time, the strength, the energy, the know-how, or the courage to stand up for justice anyway?"

The Executive Branch
The reason I bring this up now is that perhaps the defining moment I spoke about in the paragraph above has now arrived:   If a national election can be rigged with impunity, can we still think of ourselves as a stable Democracy?  I don't think so.  This is the second time in a row that a Presidential election was apparently hijacked.  It looks like it wasn't just in Florida this time, but also in Ohio that the election results were prearranged.  And this happened while the country had its eyes wide open.  To steal an election under these circumstances is a political coup.  It appears that there is real evidence that that is what has happened.  So if in fact Bush did not win this last election legitimately, and we are unable or unwilling to reverse the outcome, or arrive at a fair and legitimate result, then I would say that we've lost our Democracy.  As far as I can tell, January 20 is the defining moment I was talking about.  So if you were afraid that you might miss the call I mentioned in that paragraph, this is it.  Now you can answer the question I asked, for yourself.  I imagine that in some sense, dismantling a democracy is like global warming... once the process gets beyond a certain stage, there is no turning back... at least not in the short run.

http://fairnessbybeckerman.blogspot.com

The Legislative Branch
With respect to the legislative branch, I think we have good evidence, if we know how to interpret the evidence we have, that Congress no longer functions as it was intended.  It's a bit far fetched, in my view, to think of it any longer as a legitimate Democratic institution.  We have here the statement of Senator Hollings who is retiring from his Senate post and admitting as he is doing so, that he and his colleagues have been behaving in a corrupt and untrustworthy manner for a long time, the result of which, I believe, is that they probably have already destroyed our Democracy.  Anyone who follows closely the workings of Congress and how they do their business would not need Hollings' statement to come to this conclusion, but here it is anyway:

Fritz Hollings Farewell Speech

Of course you may not interpret his words as I do, but let me explain why I come to my conclusion:

1. In his farewell address Hollings admits (something we already knew) that on a regular basis during his tenure in office, he spent large amounts of his time and influence raising money for his next election. This, of course, is not what he was elected and paid to do.  But that apparently is what they all do. I'm not saying it's unusual or outside the accepted norm.  In fact, we've come to accept this kind of behavior as business as usual.  This corruption has been institutionalized.  But just because we have ignored or accepted this unworthy behavior, doesn't mean the result is not catastrophic:  how our representatives spend their time is so grossly dishonest and corrupt that it has undermined the very foundation of our government and has now probably robbed our children of their birthright.  After all, if you know that what you are doing is dishonest and a threat to your nation's well being, and you continue to do it anyway... that's malfeasance in office.  And when everyone is doing it, that's not an excuse—that's treason.  Our government no longer works... at least not for We the People.
   
   
2. But then again if we citizens behaved honorably, no candidate or representative would ever have to prostitute themselves the way they do now.  We require our candidates and elected officials to behave this way. If we lose our Democracy, it will be because We The People don't understand what our job is.  In fact, we have been so negligent, that here we are... as I speak... on the verge of losing our freedom.  And just because you might be unaware or uninformed right now as to how Congress' malfeasance has adversely affected your life and/or your children's future, it doesn't mean that it hasn't...  it has.
   
   
3. The system no longer works; the electorate is no longer represented by their representatives the way a Democracy is supposed to work:  "one man, one vote." Instead it has largely become:  "one dollar, one vote."   And of course, he who has the most dollars gets the most access... has the most influence... gets the most votes. That's not Democracy. A Democracy cannot work if just about every representative's point of view, conscience, or time is for sale... and that's how it is now. Our legislators often don't even read or consider the legislation they vote for. They're too busy scrounging for money so they can keep their jobs in the next go around.  
   
   Nor can a Democracy work if We the People lose our way, which is to say, our sense of purpose, our courage, our honor, and our dignity... and from where I sit it looks like that's what we've done... most Americans appear to be either incompetent or impotent now with respect to turning things around, or in denial that there's even a need to try.

In my view, if George W. Bush takes office this coming January 20, without a full and open hearing and proper adjudication of the apparent election fraud, we will have lost our Democracy, and we will have lost it with our eyes wide open.  There just doesn't seem to be enough citizens left who have the courage, the know how, or the consciousness to preserve it.  By the time most American wake up, the defining moment I speak about will be in the near or distant past, and not looming just ahead.  

http://www.gpln.com/citizen.htm

The Judicial Branch
We'll see how things evolve, but handing Bush the election in 2000 on the basis of such a tenuous argument leaves no reason to be encouraged.  One wonders what decision the Supreme Court of Ukraine would have come to if citizens hadn't pitched tents in the street.