In other words, Von der Leyen’s very rise constituted a quiet coup. Beyond the pretty verbiage about defending democracy, it amounted to what Anderson has described as “the quiet settling of affairs between elites in camera, above the heads of an inert populace below”.
https://pluralistic.net/2024/03/05/the-map-is-not-the-territory/#apor-locksmith
We want to be able to vote with our wallets, because it's so much faster and more convenient than voting with our ballots. But the vote-with-your-wallet election is rigged for the people with the thickest wallets. Try as hard as you'd like, you just can't shop your way out of a monopoly – that's like trying to recycle your way out of the climate emergency. Systemic problems need systemic solutions – not individual ones.
#cory #doctorow #cory-doctorow #monopoly #competition #democracy #freedom #liberty
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/mar/05/us-supreme-court-trump-ruling
“For historians,” the brief said, “contemporary evidence from the decision-makers who sponsored, backed and voted for the 14th amendment … demonstrates that decision-makers crafted section three to cover the president and to create an enduring check on insurrection, requiring no additional action from #Congress.”
On Monday the supreme court disagreed, saying in an unsigned opinion: “We conclude that states may disqualify persons holding or attempting to hold state office. But states have no power under the #constitution to enforce section three with respect to federal offices, especially the presidency.”
This makes it one of those democracies where there are draconian punishments for minor crimes that overcrowd the prisons, but those who attempt a #coup have nothing to fear.
#usa #America #politics #democracy #election #vote #news #law #crime #fail #problem
