Tearing down Democracy

By Ralph Nader

You would think that Bush-Cheney would be sensitive to avoiding the weakening of democracy in our country while going around the world with Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, hectoring other countries about their anti-democratic practices.

After all, the moral authority to admonish comes from the power of example. Instead brazen hypocrisy prevails. Bush and Cheney inherited past democratic institutions and practices, which they are tearing down in many directions.

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But let's look at what Bush-Cheney is doing to democracy in the USA. First, these two authoritarians have centralized more power in the White House-Executive Branch at the expense of Congress, the courts and the states than previous Republican leaders would ever have done. From the Patriot Act to pursuing tort deform, from federalizing many class actions in federal courts (usurping the role of state courts) to the pre-emptive banking laws and regulations to the "Leave No Child Behind" takeover, these two pro-Vietnam war draft dodgers have generated a cascade of powers into the Oval Office.

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What could I possibly add? Ralph's got a brain.