October rallies filled with democratic ideals

Our Livingston County’s, Saturday, 18 October rallies were brimming with democratic ideals. Most were pro-US Constitutional (thus No Kings) & safe, sensible and sane feelings. We attended three “we love the US celebrations” in our county villages at 10 a.m., noon and 1:30 p.m.

Maybe our U.S. democracy has been degraded by:

• Two political parties, locking in and polarizing ideas, while concentrating power into such as Nixon’s, & now Trump’s, “enemies list” (e.g. Bolton, Christie, Senator Schiff, Letitia James, Blue, etc.).
• That they gerrymander and polarize democracy into “us and them.”
• Citizens United equating money with speech, so billionaires rule.
• No U.S. Congress and SCOTUS term limits permitting lifelong rule!
• A major decline in print journalism, favoring online opinion and conglomerates, threatening major networks and universities to follow.
• The decline in women’s rights including health, choice and ownership, plus deep Medicaid, CDC, NIH, EPA and SNAP cuts.
• Corruption of Pharma and health care costs, as well as, billions going into the President’s family and “library” holdings.
• The current purging of the Federal Government’s BLStatistics, Defense-Intelligence-Agency, Inspector Generals and JAGs, independent Justice Department prosecutors and Civil Service workers.
• Pardoning over 1,100 January 6th “insurrectionists”, then firing dozens of DOJ handling prosecutors.

These are some red lines that have been crossed in our democracy; now a kleptocracy. The ACA extension is what the Federal government shutdown hung on.

Our 2026 Congressional election is threatened by partisan violations of the Posse Comitatus Act and redistricting. We’re busy resisting “normal autocracy.”