I dont agree that everything in this article is indication of our not being a democracy (although some of it begs the question of whether we deserve to be considered civilized). But this one is the strongest argument that we have no business going around the world lecturing other nations on democracy: Our police forces have become unaccountable paramilitary organizations. As the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have wound down, all the surplus military equipment not getting used in the battlefield is being used at home, by local police forces. All a municipal police department has to do is apply for a grant through the Department of Homeland Security, and it can get tanks, drones, firepower, armor, water cannons, flash bang grenades, LRAD sound devices, and other equipment that has no purpose enforcing the law amongst civilians. As the crackdown on the Occupy movement showed, this military equipment is often used to suppress the democratic rights of citizens nonviolently assembling in public spaces. When countries like Egypt or Russia use military equipment to suppress peaceful citizen protests, our government is the first to condemn it. But through the continued auspices of the “War on Terror,” our government has sanctioned everything from the mass surveillance of calls and emails to the indefinite detention of US citizens in military jail under the flimsiest of accusations. How can America “bring freedom” to another country when American citizens live under the thumb of a militarized police state?
Posted on: Tue, 24 Jun 2014 18:52:21 +0000