What is to be Done to Save US Democracy?

If they wish to save democracy, the leadership of the Democratic Party must start actually leading, showing more (some?) courage and genuine outrage, and never compromising with authoritarians.

The Trump administration violates the law and constitution on a daily basis. The argument that as the minority party Democrats are helpless is bogus. The Republicans have never been helpless when in the minority. They have used every mechanism possible, fair and foul, to stop, slow down, amend, and derail Democratic measures. 

Democrats, at least the leaders and corporate Dems, have been too nice. They are playing by the rules of a game their opponents have changed beyond recognition. 

At Davos, Mark Carney, the Canadian Prime Minister, claimed rightly that the old world order is gone, thanks in large part to Trump's actions. The same is true of the political system in the US. 

Only radical action can impede Trump. Democrats must stop cooperating with him in any way. Do not vote for any Republican measures that advance his authoritarian agenda as seven did a few days ago to fund ICE, which operates outside the law as a form of domestic terrorism. 

To be worthy of their name, Democrats must join with democratically minded people and propose a measures designed to protect and advance democracy, as well as reverse the anti-democratic measures of recent years.

I have drawn up what I call the People's Charter for the USA. It derives its name from the democratic program drawn up in the UK in the 1830s. It had six points or demands. Five became law. My charter is longer but I believe American citizens should demand all of them.  

• 1.       Abolish the Electoral College, an anti-democratic institution that has empowered American reactionaries since slavery times. Replace it with the National Popular Vote. People in other countries find the Electoral College bewildering and idiotic, because it is.
• 
  
• 2.       Prohibit gerrymandering. Create an independent, non-partisan commission to draw up boundaries of congressional constituencies. This is done in other countries.
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• 3.       Overturn the obscene Citizens United decision of SCOTUS. It is responsible for hugely increasing the influence of big money in elections. Nothing like this exists in other democracies.
•  
• 4.       Prohibit political ads. They are virtually useless as information, misleading or untrue, insulting, and damned annoying. Prohibited in most democratic countries.
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• 5.       Introduce proportional representation or ranked voting to end the stranglehold of the corrupt two-party system. Some people will argue that this would make efficient government impossible. Ask yourself, is what we have now efficient? 
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• 6.     Make the Senate representative of the country. It gives the less populated states collectively far more power than the most populated. California with 40 million people and Wyoming with only half a million have the same number of senators. This is both absurd and grossly undemocratic.
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• 7.       Make voting simple, safe, and convenient. Voting is an obligation. It should not be a survival test, torture, or a danger. Eliminate voter suppression of all kinds. Other countries do not do things this perverse way.
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• 8.      Fund public education adequately and fairly. Public college and university education should be free or cheap, as it was when I went to college and university in the late 60s and early 70s. Why are we short-changing our children and dumbing down our voters? 
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• 9.      Establish a national, affordable health care plan that covers everyone. The present for profit system is a disgrace and an international laughingstock. The system costs the US twice as much as in other developed nations, and the results are worse in terms of mortality and morbidity. Scores of millions are uncovered or inadequately covered. Health insurance must be affordable, universal, and disconnected from employment. The present system turns many workers into virtual serfs tied to their jobs.
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• 10.       Require the payment of a living (not minimum) wage for all adult workers. This should vary according to local living costs. It costs a lot more to live in California than in North Dakota. Why should workers have to have two or even three jobs to make ends meet?
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• 11.     Reduce the period between the election of the president and the inauguration to two or three weeks, preferably less. This would have minimized Trump's ability to create havoc after the "stolen election" of 2020. In the UK and many countries, a new government generally takes over immediately after the election. This can be done because the parties have already selected the members of the cabinet and other ministers.
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• 12.     Reform the judiciary. Judges should be selected by professional bodies, not by presidents and Congress. This includes the Supreme Court, whose bias towards Trump is flagrant and dangerous. Justices of the SCOTUS and all judges should serve fixed terms, not for life. They should operate according to a code of ethics established by an independent board of legal and political scholars. 

Effective, fair gun control is imperative. I did not include it under these reforms but it would follow if they were implemented. Not possible? Check out other democratic, developed countries. 

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American Exceptionalism, Part II

Under Trump the US has become more exceptional than ever.  His bellicose actions regarding Canada, Mexico, Venezuela, Greenland, Iran, and Nigeria are the latest examples of American Exceptionalism. 

"American Exceptionalism" derives from the argument that the USA is fundamentally different from other countries; that it is superior to them, "Number 1," "The Greatest Country in the World."

It's true that the US is exceptional, not because it is superior, but because it has become significantly worse than most countries around the globe. American exceptions abound:

The only wealthy country without a system of universal health insurance coverage. Existing health insurance plans verge on robbery.

A Department of Health and Human Services doing its best to revive diseases previous generations had virtually eliminated and to bring us more epidemics and pandemics.

A Department of Défense (War?) that thinks indiscriminate killing of civilians around the world is "legal" and OK. 

A Department of Homeland Security that spends most of its time terrorizing the American people.

A Department of Justice devoted to undermining existing laws and eroding human rights. 

A Department of Education seeking to undermine public education.

A minimum wage far below the level of a "living wage." A long history of union busting and bashing.

A railway system far inferior to that of every other developed country. Poor public transit in much of the country.

A deteriorating public education system. 

Friendly to pedophiles and other sexual predators.

Number 1 in billionaires.

Number 1 in medical bankruptcies.

Number 1 in mass shootings

Number 1 in Covid deaths.

The US is currently in the grip of Christian-capitalist fascism. Its evolution into this obscene system did not begin with Trump. It is the result of decades of anti-democratic developments that eroded constitutional and legal protections of political and human rights. 

Trump is a product, a symptom, of this evolution. He did not create it. It will not go away when he does without radical reform of the political system.

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Kings Fall Apart: Or, It's Not Always Good to be King, Mr Trump

TRUMP has been trying to make himself the first King of the USA since a revolting people gave George III the boot in 1776. Laying aside the argument that the Donald is a much worse leader than the last king, the King of Orange should think twice about being on a throne, however golden. George III, a Far Better Man Than Trump

The history of monarchy in the British Isles, which I know best, should not inspire a desire to play Macbeth and Don a crown. Few kings or queens have been able to enjoy their reigns, short or long. Only one British king has been called "The Merry Monarch," Charles II, and even he faced a sea of troubles, partly of his own making. 

Charles II did manage to last twenty-five years and die in bed with his crown on his head, a fate denied many other monarchs. The last Anglo-Saxon king, Harold, was killed in battle against the 1066 Norman Invasion led by Duke William of Normandy. Tradition holds that an arrow landed in Harold's eye. He had been king for only a few months. 

William I, Harold's Conqueror, did much better time-wise. But he had to deal with an Anglo-Saxon populace which did not welcome being ruled by a king who rewarded his French-speaking warriors with their lands. He dealt with the opposition by killing lots of peasants and destroying their homes. His corpulent body exploded when he was being forced into a too small tomb, emitting a foul smell and showering those nearby with unmentionables.

William II, the Conqueror's eldest son, had a nasty and short reign, cut short by an arrow again. On this occasion, the archer may have been an assassin hired by his brother Henry, who succeeded as king. Henry I he had a fairly lengthy reign. Legend has it that he died from eating a surfeit of lampreys. It is more probable that  a stroke killed him. Or maybe he died of worry about the succession.

Henry had no male successor, only a daughter, Matilda. He named her as his heir, but when he died, the alpha males among his barons decided they could not stomach being ruled by a woman, and chose his nephew Stephen as king. Those familiar with the US election of 2024, when Americans chose Trump over Kamala Harris, will understand. 

The result was nearly twenty years of fighting between the supporters of Stephen and those of Matilda. The Anarchy, as this period is called, was not a good time for anybody, except for some robber barons. Peasants, as always, paid a heavy price. 

In the end, the two sides reached a deal: Stephen would remain king, but on his death, the throne would pass to Matilda's son Henry of Anjou. When Henry II became king in 1154, he started a line of kings known as the Angevins or Plantagenets. Henry also inherited a large part of France, directly, or through his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine. He was always moving about to keep control his large and diverse territories. He faced many rebellions among his nobles and vassals. The rebels eventually included his sons and Eleanor. 

Two of his sons became king after him. Richard and John, of Ivanhoe and Robin Hood fame. That's all fantasy, but so is Richard's "Lion-Heart" reputation. He is the only king to have a statue outside of Parliament, for some unfathomable reason. Richard spent a mere six months of his ten year reign in England, and like Trump, treated the country like a cash cow. He massacred thousands of Muslims, Jews, and even Christians while Crusading for Christ in the oddly named Holy Land. He also died when struck by an arrow, while besieging a rebel castle. Gangrene set in, and that did for him.

Richard I had no children. Enter his brother John, the only English king of that name. Let's see why. (NB: This is not John)

End of Part I.

 

Remarkable Charlestonians in the American Revolution

 

The Death of Major Pierson by John Singleton Copley, 1782. Tate Britain 

The American Revolution was a struggle for liberty, but not in the uncomplicated way we learned in school. The traditional story holds that Patriots fought to free themselves from arbitrary taxation by a tyrannical king, George III. In truth, the tyrant, if there was one, was the British Parliament, which passed the laws that angered the colonists. That was true enough. What is left out is that supporters of the British government also fought for liberty, but of a different sort. People on both sides viewed their actions as patriotic, even if they were sometimes self-serving.

Enslaved blacks fought to free themselves from slavery. The War for Independence, especially in  the southern colonies, was also in part a war to to preserve slavery. Slaveholders feared that an arbitrary British government might grant their slaves freedom after Lord Mansfield declared slavery illegal in English law in 1773. In that sense the Revolution had more in common with the later Civil War than is generally acknowledged. 

Many white Loyalists throughout the thirteen colonies supported the mother country because they believed that the constitutional monarchy, checked by Parliament, was the best protector of their inherited liberties.  

Charleston, South Carolina is famous as the place where the American Civil War began. Less well known is its significant role in an earlier civil war. For South Carolina, the American War for Independence was more truly a civil war than the conflict of 1861-1865. During the 1860s, South Carolinians were united in defense of their state. During the Revolutionary War, they were bitterly divided. South Carolina witnessed some of the most violent episodes of the conflict.

Remarkable Charlestonians of the American Revolution relates the stories of a spectrum of the city's residents during this turbulent time. Its subjects were famous, obscure, rich, poor, black, white, men and women. Some supported the "Patriot" cause; others were loyal to the British crown, or tried to remain neutral. A few switched sides, one more than once. Collectively, their experiences highlight the often grim reality of the revolutionary era. If you are convinced that Mel Gibson portrayed the Revolution correctly in "The Patriot" this book may not be your cup of tea. ( Pun intended).

The public memory of the American Revolution is encrusted with layers of convenient forgetfulness, dubious facts, distorted legends, and outright myths. History, as Sir Lewis Namier wrote, is not a visit of condolence. Nor should it be. This book seeks to portray the complexity of a chaotic, turbulent, and fascinating time. Its pages provide, I hope, a nuanced sense of what it was like to live in Charleston during the American War for  Independence, 250 years ago. It also, I believe, sheds light on the situation in the USA today. 

The premise of Remarkable Charlestonians is that people on both sides of the War for Independence fought for liberty, although with a different sense of what liberty meant. The majority black population wanted to rid themselves of enslavement, and many joined the British, who promised them freedom. Many white Loyalists believed that the British government was the best protector of "the rights of Englishmen" against what they saw as mob rule. White revolutionaries (Patriots) opposed what they perceived as the arbitrary actions of the British government. One of the things they feared and fought to prevent was the possibility that an overpowerful Parliament would declare slavery illegal in the colonies. 

For more information, visit Remarkable Charlestonians in the American Revolution – Arcadia Publishing $24.95 

Available at all good bookstores and even some bad ones.

The New Declaration of Independence: From Trump

 

The 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence is fast approaching. The present  state of the USA demands a new declaration -- against Trump and Trumpism. The original declaration of 1776 blamed George III for the conflict. Much if not most of the blame lay with the British Parliament, but focusing on the king made the argument for independence simple: the people versus a tyrant. The argument is much stronger today than in 1776, because Trump, unlike George III, truly is a tyrant. So let's KISS again. 

The original Declaration of Independence, in the part few read today, listed a long series of "repeated injuries and usurpations" designed to establish "an absolute Tyranny over these States." 

The New Declaration of Independence from Trump should contain a similar list of the injuries and usurpations he and his toadies have inflicted on the USA. I propose something like the following:

He has repeatedly violated the Constitution and the laws, and corrupted the legal system.

He is destroying the fabric of American institutions designed to advance education, health, and the general welfare. 

He has attacked and is attacking freedom of speech, the press, and assembly. 

He has violated the norms of diplomacy and human rights, killing and arresting people without evidence of any crime. 

He has made enemies of traditional allies and friends of the USA.

He is destroying one of the strongest economies on earth.

He has repeatedly violated the norms of human morality.

He has brought the USA into global contempt.

He has praised and assisted the enemies of human freedom, decency, and democracy.

He is a felon guilty of bribery, rape, pedophilia, tax evasion, extortion, and other crimes. 

He is a six times bankrupt who has repeatedly failed to pay his creditors.

He golfs on the taxpayers' money while the country burns.

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TAX REVOLT: Don't Put Your Money Where Trump Is

On the 18^th of April in ‘75,

Hardly a tax was then alive.

A tiny British tax on tea,

And Patriots made the British flee.

 

Today Americans meekly send,

Tax money for the rich to spend.

Loopholes and subsidies do the job,

The rich need not the people rob.

 

Your money does much godly work,

It pays for bombs and missiles, jerk.

Destroying Gaza is a worthy job,

And turning fishermen into blobs.

What about health care? you might ask.

Take a swig from yon whisky flask. 

Health care's not for the likes of you,

For Congress yes, for sure that's true.

You have "insurance" for a bigly fee,

Congress get their health care free.

Education? That's for nerds,

MAGAts have no need for words.

Alas! Do not in misery wallow,

Bread and football you may swallow.

Let’s drink a toast to celebrate,

Though Miller and Bud is all we rate.

Champagne and yachts belong to others,

Even though we all are brothers.

Someday their dough will trickle down,

And we can all then go to town.

 

With abject apologies to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

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A Poetic Piss-Potpourri: In Honor of Donald Trump

At least one vile crime a day,

Keeps the Epstein Files at bay.

But even more  keeps them away,

What will it be today? 

You may be Good, you may be Pretti, 

To Trump you are no more than shitty.

A man who diddles little chillun', 

Won't fret about a little killin' 

How can I win again today,

And kick the Epstein Hoax away?

Invading Venezuela's the way,

To make a Big and Beautiful Day.

I broke the law again today,

Blew the constitution clean away!

Congress no longer has a say,

Amerika is mine with which to play.

My name is Donald Trump

You know, it rhymes with dump.

The US must take Greenland now,

This Denmark must us allow.

Polar bears are a danger great,

A fact you must appreciate.

TRUMP IN DAVOS

Trump has gone to Davos, 

To turn a few centavos.

The rich and powerful are all there, 

Lining up to get their share. 

Or have they just come to see,

Trump shower them with golden pee?

They watch as things fall apart,

Don't any of them have a heart?

HE'll destroy Iran's theocracy,

And bring it real democracy.

At home he likes autocracy, 

Combines it with plutocracy, 

And adds corrupt bureaucracy.

Let's hear it for hypocrisy,

And the US idiocracy.

Who decides what is moral?

No need for any quarrel!

Trump guides our morality,

He equates it with brutality,

Cheers every new fatality,

And welcomes more mortality, 

Some call it rank insanity,

Others think it pure banality.

It's all a mere formality, 

Just the new US reality. 

Congress has lost vitality.

And SCOTUS all legality.

This poem has no frugality,

Perhaps too much duality.

Uptown, Downtown, 

All around Epstein,

A tisket a tasket, 

Trump's in a basket.

All fall down!

If he doesn't go to jail, 

He will damn sure go to Hail.

Trumpy Dumpy! Oh so Lumpy,

How does your garden grow?

With racists and rapists, 

And a FAT ORANGE PEDO. 

Lined up in a felonious row.

Don and Mel went up the Hill,

To fetch a crooked Congress.

Don fell down and lost his Crown, 

And Mel came tumbling on her ass.

I see no reason 

Why Trumpist treason 

Should ever be forgot.

Un-for-tun-ate-ly

Congress lost the plot.

Trumpstein Bridge is falling down, 

Falling down, falling down,

Trumpstein Bridge is falling down, 

My Dear Ladies, 

No Trumps! No Trumps!

I introduce Vice Charlatan Vance,

Who decided to take a big chance.

He married a liar named Shitler,

Who once he had called Herr Hitler,

What a wonderful MAGA Bromance! 

Great Fatsby achieves a new low,

Whenever he puts on a show,

At His Christofascist bordello,

That pile he calls Mar a Lago,

A gold and turdish farrago.

There once was a prince name of Andy,

Who reputedly leaned towards randy.

Prince Andy fell down, 

And off went his crown,

Isn't this story just dandy?

Hey kids! come along to Mr. Trumps’ Neighborhood

You bet you should, and I promise I’ll be good.

My friends Jeff and Ghislaine will make you free.

We’ll have such fun at Epstein Island By the Sea.

Zionists and Nazis, you're the same, 

There's simply no one else to blame. 

You kill and starve all ages, sexes, 

And joyfully you love to vex us.

A cursed bunch of poor pretenders, 

You talk as if you're our defenders.

Carrying out the will of God,

While stealing other people's sod. 

Off

THE BALLAD OF WHISKEY PETE

Gridley, you may fire when ready,

God man, why's your hand unsteady?

Fire the missiles, Pete's ordered it!

I must tell Hegseth they've been hit.  

But Admiral, can't you see?

They're only fishing boats to lee;

We'll blow them all to smitheries, 

Just as we did at Wounded Knee.

Gridley, dammit, move aside,

Such cowardice I can't abide.

Killing drug lords is our job,

So missiles at them we must lob.

I'll press the button and send

Them on their way to wend.

Watch them blaze across our bow, 

That's it -- the battle's over now.

Oh, damn, some are still alive!

Pete said no one should survive,

Another salvo'll do the trick,

Send them down to bad Old Nick.

Our God FOTUS will be clapping,

Lots of backs he'll be slapping,

Put some lefties in the pen,

Gridley, America's Great Again.

Look! Up in the sky! 

Is it a bird? 

Is it a plane?

No, its Super-King!

He's just the thing!

Come to save us

From evil lefties.

Oh, shit!  

Behold! The Epstein Files,

Chock full of pedophiles.

What rhymes with Orange?

It used to be Brown.

Today, it's black.

12/19/2025

Chicago, Blues Brothers Town,

Where ICE will be a'goin' down.

Chicago, City of Broad Shoulders, 

Will not welcome rebel soldiers.

Chicago, Noble Windy City,

Will crush Orange Turd the Shitty.

Chicago, Chicago, Toddling Town,

Will in its river fascists drown.

The Epstein Hoax is such a Joke!

Says Agent Trump a'snortin' Coke,

I know the truth believe you me,

Ask Madame Maxwell, yes siree, 

At Epstein Island by the Sea.

The FBI hired me to show, 

That Epstein ran a bordello.   

I love tariffs, they're so good for me, 

Slap them on all countries, they are my enemy.

Tariffs with my coffee, tariffs with my tea,

Send me golden trinkets to match my golden pee, 

I love to threaten tariffs when I am on TV. 

I like my women on the younger side,

12 to 17 I can abide.

Epstein stole the best from me,

But still I had a bigly spree,

At Epstein Island by the sea.

There once was a FOTUS most arrogant

Who spewed nonsense incredibly arrant

His mind is quite broken 

His knowledge mere token

And his brain like a wrinkled currant.  

This fellow named Trump is quite comical

With words he is not economical

They flow from his rump 

Like a fast-flowing dump

What a marvel he is anatomical.

God has sent us a wonderful gift

To save us all from devilish drift

He may be a rapist,

A crook, and a racist

But God knows we're not very swift.

Trump's a fascist his critics declare.

Trump says my MAGATS don't care.

In fact, they quite like it.

No way shall I drop it,

When my fascism they all share.

There once was a FOTUS named Trump
Who called the White House a dump.

"There's no golden potty

It's driving me dotty
I guess I will just have a hump."

Trump wanted to buy Greenland I've heard.

Denmark said, "that's completely absurd."

His deal thus upended, 

Herr Trump was offended, 

And acted once more like a turd.