In this mailing: Guy Millière: The Autocratic Future of the United States? Amir Taheri: US Elections: The Unasked Questions The Autocratic Future of the United States? by Guy Millière  •  November 1, 2020 at 5:00 am       If institutions of democracy -- the state, the judiciary, opposition parties and the free press -- suppress verifiable information instead of informing the public about it -- as has just taken place for more than two weeks regarding alleged financial corruption and the possible resultant compromise -- by China, Russia, and Ukraine among other countries -- of an allegedly financially compromised family as possible a national security threat -- these institutions of democracy instead become vehicles to sabotage a democracy. A danger to American democracy in the past years -- with threats to undo the Constitution by, for example, abolishing the electoral college, banning guns and, in 2014, eliminating free speech -- has therefore become imminent. There has been talk about killing the filibuster, to pass just about anything with a simple majority, and talk about enlarging the Senate by adding more states, presumably to enable one side to hold a permanent majority. Also on the agenda has been adding more members to the Supreme Court to turn it into a branch of legislative government, eliminating America's historic system of checks and balances. There are also plans to raise taxes on everyone (remember, "You can keep your healthcare"?), abolish fossil fuels and fracking, and establish a Marxist-socialist economy of redistribution to replace a free economy. (Image source: iStock) There seems to have been an attempt for the last four years to instill among the population a hatred of America and of the president, to present them both as a criminal and to try to overthrow them. In any event, it is the first time in American history that there has been an attempted coup d'état against a duly elected president. If institutions of democracy -- the state, the judiciary, opposition parties and the free press -- suppress verifiable information instead of informing the public about it -- as has just taken place for more than two weeks regarding alleged financial corruption and the possible resultant compromise -- by China, Russia, and Ukraine among other countries -- of an allegedly financially compromised family as possible a national security threat -- these institutions of democracy instead become vehicles to sabotage a democracy. Continue Reading Article US Elections: The Unasked Questions by Amir Taheri  •  November 1, 2020 at 4:30 am       The initial success of America's recent economic policy was based on three factors: a substantial tax cut, energy independence, and a more level playing field in foreign trade.... Will there be a high tax scenario at a time the economy is grappling with the crippling effect of Covid-19? Will he stop or curtail fracking and lose the status of number one global energy producer that the US has won for the first time since the 1960s? Will the US re-join the so-called Paris Accord on climate change even though none of the remaining signatories has complied with it? Will the US simply apologize and resume signing cheques for UNESCO and the World Health Organization (WHO) without insisting on reforms that most member nations regard as urgently needed? Will the US dismantle the build-up of troops and materiel that has bolstered the allies in Central and Eastern Europe? On strategic arms limitation schemes, will there be abandon recent demands to expand any agreement to include China or will he insist on a Cold War style check with Vladimir Putin? Will the US give the two fingers to Jair Bolsonaro and Narendra Modi, instead, hug Nicolas Maduro as Obama did with Hugo Chavez and Raul Castro? On the Middle East, will the US simply revive the Obama "nuke deal" with the Islamic Republic in Iran, lift sanctions and help the mullahs feed the monsters they have created across the globe in the name of exporting revolution? Will the US resume smuggling crisp greenbacks to Tehran to help "the moderate faction" smile more tooth-fully while "the radical faction" massacres Iranian protesters in the streets? Will the US stab long-term allies in the back in the hope of turning deadly foes into friends, as Obama tried to do with his infamous speech at Cairo's Al-Azhar University? (Image source: iStock) As millions of Americans prepare to go to the polls on Tuesday, joining the estimated 50 million who have already cast their ballots, they might take a few moments to ask themselves a simple question: What are we voting for? Going by the narrative peddled by a good chunk of the US media the election is all about one man: President Donald J. Trump. This is all well and good; all elections at such levels include a dose of personal consideration of the candidates. Visiting several cities across the states in 2008, many voters told us that they were casting their ballots for Barack Obama because they thought it was time the US had a black president. The fact that he had no record to present didn't matter. In 2016 it was Trump's turn to benefit from his status as the outsider. In both cases, however, Obama and Trump appeared like blank slates on which voters could draw cherished expectations. Continue Reading Article