Misuse of Public Authority

The title of today’s blog could have been ‘Bits and Pieces’ and you will see why. However, the subtitles included all demonstrate a common thread – misuse of the People’s power.

Ours is a democracy, built on the model provided by the Greeks millennia ago. Changes were made to the model to produce the American Republic. The final model of the 1790’s favored landowners who were mostly white and wealthy. The result was distorted representation of We The People. That result has been modified through the past 235 years to broaden the democratic process. Yet the white privilege and wealth standard was maintained in many ways.

The morphed result has led to these actions experienced during the trump administration:

               DOJ investigates press, corporations, and others as political enemies

               Pentagon budget used for southern border wall building

               Congressional inaction on January 6^th Capitol Attack

               Congressional blockage of infrastructure bill

               Federal tax policy vs Democracy

Not only has the federal model of governance been misused for the above purposes, it remains ‘in power’ to frustrate correcting the problems and 'clear and present dangers' presented by this situation. The crisis grows worse while the system is given a chance to correct itself under Democratic leadership. Republican leadership – now in the minority – plots methods to restore power to the House and Senate to continue manipulating and blocking progress to repair all the damage.

Delay tactics are the largest strategy. The system is loaded with nefarious means that are used to waylay progress. GOP leadership has mastered this approach and Democrats appear powerless to counter.

Abusing public power on a grand scale has been the hallmark of the last 30 years of our federal governance. The proof of that resides in the subtitles listed above. Ponder that long and hard. Take your time. Think on what needs to be done to correct the situation. Then think how we get the federal government to address these problems adequately and fairly. Such does not appear possible currently.

That is precisely the problem.

When did We The People become such a charade? And how?

Can we fix this? Ever? If yes, how and by whom?

June 14, 2021