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The conservative columnist Peggy Noonan wrote last week: The president needs to be told: Democracy is not your plaything. She is so right. Donald Trump has warmly welcomed despots to the White House, suggested that reporters who publish classified information should be jailed, and may have obstructed justice by firing the man leading the investigation into possible collusion between Trump and the government of Russia. The first four months of this presidency underscore the necessity of the checks and balances the Founders wrote into our Constitution and the importance of the institutions of democracy that have evolved over time.

Those checks have shifted into overdrive. Trumps Muslim ban has been stopped while the courts consider its legality. The media are investigating and reporting matters of urgent public interest, in spite of Trumps almost daily diatribes against the press. And the most important checkthe will of the publicis evident in the activism Americans are displaying in protests, town halls and other forums from coast to coast.

But one check on the executive branch has been notably lacking: the Republican leadership in Congress. Their response to everything from controversial tweets to a potential constitutional crisis? It ranges from sticking their heads in the sand to this anemic statement from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell: We could use a little less drama from the White House.

Thats not to say congressional Republicans havent been busy. While Trumps pyrotechnics dominate news cycles, GOP lawmakers are pushing hard for legislation that hurts working families, such as their proposals to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

After the House of Representatives narrowly passed the American Health Care Act, or Trumpcare, House Republicans headed to the White House, where the Rose Garden provided a picturesque backdrop for a perverse celebration. The president, vice president and a phalanx of GOP lawmakers beamed as they congratulated each other on passing a bill that will take health security away from millions of people in the United States. No wonder the publics trust in political leaders is at a new low. Only 21 percent of Americans approve of the Republicans health care plan, and voters are much less likely to support representatives who voted for it.

Its hard to know which is worsewhat Trumpcare contains, or the way it was passed.

Under Trumpcare, 24 million people would lose health insurance in the coming decade. People like the patients Toria Harris sees as an oncology nurse in Ohiopatients whose advanced cancer could be cured with access to healthcare. Millions of people with pre-existing conditions may be one reoccurrence away from bankruptcy or death. Reduced funding for Medicaid would be devastating for students like Evan, a 6-year-old from Souderton, Pa., with Down syndrome. Medicaid enables Evan to receive occupational, physical and speech therapy and other services that are vital to his growth and independence. Trumpcare would also strip $117 billion from Medicare for seniors. All of this to pay for a tax cut for the top 2 percent of earners.

And the way the House Republicans rammed the AHCA through steamrolled the government mechanisms intended to create trust and transparency. No time for the Congressional Budget Office to score the bills impact and cost, no time for House members to read it, no amendments, and less than three hours of debate. Enormous changes to the healthcare Americans rely on and a law affecting one-fifth of the economy require a scintilla of transparency so Americans know what their representatives are doing.

The president is displaying increasingly unbalanced, dangerous and authoritarian behaviors. Every member of Congress takes an oath of officenot to party or president, but to uphold the Constitution. That sworn oath is mere words unless exercised.

In On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century, Yale historian Timothy Snyder takes readers through three times when Europeans confronted authoritarian regimes: the end of World War I, the end of World War II and the fall of communism. Until recently, most Americans had only been spectators to assaults on democracy. We might be tempted to think that our democratic heritage automatically protects us from such threats, Snyder writes. This is a misguided reflex.

This is no time to lower our defenses or sit on the sidelines. With an increasingly erratic president and members of his party who refuse to act as a check on his power, it is we, the people, who must serve that function to protect democracyat town halls, rallies and, ultimately, at the ballot box.

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A Clarion Call For Democracy - HuffPost

Washington DC has been shaken by an astounding series of seismic events in recent weeks, from the unexpected firing of FBI director James Comey to bombshell reports that Trump had shared sensitive intelligence with Russian officials in the Oval Office, to the appointment of a seasoned FBI veteran as special counsel to investigate Russias interference in the US election.

The events in the US capital have been described as a circus (paywall), or signs of a nation on the verge of a nervous breakdown. But the past two weeks have also provided a whirlwind tour through the checks and balances that make American democracy work. Its been tumultuous and ugly, yes, but, there are also irrefutable signs that the process is working.

The Department of Justice, headed by the attorney general, is a part of the executive branch, but its top officials swear to uphold the US Constitution, not protect the Oval Office. While attorney general Jeff Sessions role in the firing of Comey raised questions about his independence, especially because he recused himself from the departments investigation into Russian interference in the US election, the actions of two DOJ employees in the past two weeks have bolstered confidence in this system.

Former acting attorney general Sally Yatess testified on May 8 to the Senate about concerns she shared with the White House that Michael Flynn, who served as the national security advisor, could be blackmailed by the Russians, showing that the Trump administration had specific knowledge weeks before Flynn was fired. Yates also defended her decision not to enforce the Trump administrations first travel ban, calling it a constitutional concern, and fundamental issue of religious freedom. Trump fired Yates, but her testimony will be part of the official record in the Senate now.

On May 17, deputy attorney-general Rod Rosenstein appointed former FBI director Robert Mueller to head the investigation into Russian tampering in the US election, without tipping off the White House, or Sessions, beforehand (which is how an independent special prosecutor should be named), earning praise from Republicans and Democrats both.

The Republican-led Congress has mostly dragged its feet in the pursuing investigations into the Trump teams ties to Russia.

But Comeys firing, and the subsequent reports that he has written notes of the president urging him to soft-pedal the investigation, have galvanized them into action. While the Senate Intelligence Committee was already doggedly pursuing its own investigation, it has gained new momentum, and the stalled investigation in the House was restarted. And some Republicans are speaking out about the investigation, signaling it is important, breaking with the president who says it is dividing the country. South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham, for example, noted it was likely a criminal investigation on May 18.

Some of the push on members of Congress to act is coming from US citizens, who have been organizing, demonstrating, and contacting their local representatives. Voters turned up in record numbers at town halls over the recent spring recess, when Congress members go home to their constituency, sometimes chanting Do your job to their elected representatives.

The first few months of the Trump presidency have seen an groundswell of civic action against the administration, from protests and demonstrations to letter-writing campaigns and phone trees. There are new candidates running for office who have never before considered politics, like a group of scientists. Trumps fiery campaign rhetoric and promises to working-class Americans brought voters to the polls who had checked out of the political process in the past, and some of these supporters are flocking to town halls as well.

The phrase the fourth estate was coined by Scottish philosopher Thomas Carlyle, who equivocated printing to democracy itself. He said, whoever can speak, speaking now to the whole nation, becomes a power, a branch of government, with inalienable weight in law-making, in all acts of authority.

Mainstream media and conservative outlets alike helped Trump win the US presidency, giving him an oversized share of free advertising with their non-stop coverage of his outrageous statements and rallies, and saw their profits soar in return. Now, many of them are taking a hard look at the Trump administration, devoting more resources to whats happening in the White House than in presidencies past.

No one media outlet in America can claim to be speaking now to the whole nation, but investigations into Trump are still having a sizable impact.

Michael Flynn would likely still be national security advisor had the Washington Post not reported that he had discussed (paywall) sanctions with Russias ambassador to the US, refuting public statements by vice president Mike Pence. He was fired five days later. A New York Times report (paywall) that Comey had written memos documenting Trump pressuring him to shut down the Flynn investigation nudged the House investigating committee back into action.

While Trump has called for strengthening of libel laws, and reportedly discussed putting reporters in prison with Comey, the press, to date, remains free and unfettered.

Conservative media outlets that arent covering the questions hanging over Comeys firing, or the ongoing probes into the Trump teams ties with Russia have seen ratings dropa potential sign that some American viewers are looking for fact-based reporting rather than partisan coverage.

None of the medias breaking news reports would be possible without a slew of anonymous sources from inside the White House and the federal government. Trump and his supporters have decried these leaks as part of a deep state trying to undermine the election. Reporters on the receiving end, though, say theyre often long-time government employees concerned about what they see as the dangerous actions of some players in the Trump administration.

Rather than seeing these leaks as dangerous to democracy, whistle blower advocates say they are an important part of it.

The public has a right to know, and that is who federal employees ultimately work for, said attorney Michael D. Kohn, co-founder of the National Whistleblowers Center. Most dont want to vilify their superiors, they want to problem fixed, and leaking is a last resort. Almost all whistleblowers have raised their concerns internally first, he said. Its clear that going to the media can sometimes produce the best result in addressing a problem, he said, citing the Flint, Michigan water contamination scandal.

Whistleblowers are the publics eyes, ears and conscious. Freedom of the press depends on whistleblowers and our democratic institutions will fail without them.

Originally posted here:
American democracy is far from dead, just look at the past two weeks - Quartz

New York Times

Editorial Contest Winner | 'The Collateral Damage of Defending Democracy' New York Times Tribesmen in 2013 on the rubble of a building destroyed in an American drone strike against suspected militants in Shabwa Province in southeastern Yemen. Related Article Credit Khaled Abdullah/Reuters. We are honoring each of the Top 10 winners of our ...

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Editorial Contest Winner | 'The Collateral Damage of Defending Democracy' - New York Times

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Trump won the election fairly there is not a shred of evidence to suggest otherwise and yet his opponents have never accepted the result, nor ceased trying to frustrate his efforts to govern. If they succeed,American democracy will effectively be finished.

Amidst the giddy enthusiasm of outlets like CNN to report sensational and almost certainly false stories like Sources: White House lawyers research impeachment little thought is being given to the consequences if their wildest dreams come true. And those who have considered the fact that Vice President Mike Pence would take over like far-leftist Sally Kohn and NeverTrumper Bill Kristol assume that Pence will be just as easily dispatched.

Trump won nearly 63 million votes. Those voters would be instantly disenfranchised by his removal. Opinion polls suggest nearly all of them would vote the same way again, and no facts have emerged from the Russia conspiracy theory, nor have any major policy betrayals taken place, that would sever that trust. Seeing him deposed would trigger nationwide anger, and perhaps a real Resistance, not the make-believeResistance the left has contrived.

Even by considering the possibility of impeaching Trump which some conservatives, rightly, have called a silent coup the Beltway elites are sowing division and uncertainty.They have laid bare their contempt for democracy even those who, like Kristol, enthusiastically support imposing democracy abroad.

Trumps voters believed they were taking their country back and did so through the ballot box. God help us if that victory is taken from them.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He was named one of the most influential people in news media in 2016. He is the co-author ofHow Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.

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It's Not About The Donald, It's About Democracy - Breitbart News

Remember the Brexit Battle Bus with this slogan, We send the EU 350 million a week lets fund our NHS instead Vote Leave? It was powerful and misleading according to the UK Statistics Authority. Mr Farage referred to it as a mistake.

No! The number plastered on the side of the Brexit bus was a big fat lie.

It was not a mistake because it affected the Brexit result the way Mr Farage wanted.

In short, we were misled and those who subverted our democracy with this deception have gone unpunished. Therefore it will happen again to further diminish democracy.

Last month the CPS announced that there would be no criminal charges brought against 14 MPs over their expenses in the 2015 election. In March 2017, The Electoral Commission fined the Conservative Party a record 70,000 for numerous failures in reporting expenses for the 2015 General Election. For that election the Conservatives raised some 38, 000,000.

Their fine for gaining an unfair advantage in winning the 2015 election is 0.01842105% of their 38 million war Chest. An inconsequential punishment and a ballot box bargain!

In short, there is no effective discouragement of the financial subversion of our democracy. Whether it was accidental or deliberate matters not. What matters is the harm done to our democracy and the acceptance of such harm to our democracy.

This CPS decision also undermines our legal system. It stated - it is clear agents were told by Conservative Party headquarters that the costs were part of the national campaign and it would not be possible to prove any agent acted knowingly or dishonestly. Therefore we have concluded it is not in the public interest to charge anyone referred to us with this offence.

In short, the CPS establishes the precedent that if your [political?] boss tells you to do something illegal and you do it, then no one will be prosecuted.

The BBC Trust ruled that BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg breached the BBCs impartiality and accuracy guidelines by editing film so that Mr Corbyn appeared to answer one question when he was, in reality, answering another. The Trust found this inaccuracy was compounded when she went on to state that Jeremy Corbins message couldnt be more different from that of David Cameron. The Trust also found that there was no evidence of bias or intent on the part of the journalist.

Even without bias or intent this is a fundamental abuse of trust and professionalism for either there was no need to change the film or, if there were, that fact could and should have been stated.

James Harding, the director of BBC News, stated, While we respect the Trust and the people who work there, we disagree with this finding.

In short, the head of BBC News is content with his viewers being presented with information that was not duly accurate, as the Trust said with a critical question at a time of extreme national concern.

Perhaps this election is about more than winning seats. Perhaps it is also about our speaking up, and possibly more, to make our country safe and healthy for democracy?

* Steve Trevathan is chairperson of Lyme Regis and Marshwood Vale Liberal Democrats.

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This election is about protecting our democracy - Liberal Democrat Voice