"The death of democracy" As Imposed On Americans By the Bureaucracy
Posted by freedomforall 2 years, 5 months ago to Politics
Excerpt:
"I have witnessed the death of democracy. I don’t mean in a poor country with few democratic institutions and a weak rule of law. I don’t mean via a military coup or under pressure from a hostile power. I mean here in the United States, quietly and as a result of decades of decay — rot from within.
In a sense, we all witnessed it. From the moment Donald Trump was elected president until the day he left office, government officials refused to follow his orders that conflicted with their own views, in spite of their obligation to serve whoever is president. The permanent bureaucracy felt they knew better. After all, they were experts, while the president, in their estimation, was an ignoramus, or worse, unfit for office. For example, during Trump’s first impeachment, a parade of senior officials, many serving on the White House’s National Security Council or in the State Department, testified against their boss, making clear that their understanding of Ukraine was superior to his, liberating them to undermine his policies.
But I witnessed the death of democracy up close and personal. President Trump selected me to run the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which is responsible for all government international broadcasting. At a budget of about $850 million a year, USAGM is made up of five broadcasters: Voice of America, Cuba Broadcasting, Middle East Broadcasting Networks, Radio Free Asia, and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Together, they reach over 350 million people a week in over 70 languages.
...
The White House selected me in March 2017, two months after President Trump was sworn in. Agency leadership, along with others in the federal bureaucracy and eventually Democrats in the Senate, blocked my confirmation for three years and three months. I finally walked through the door of USAGM in June 2020 for the final eight months of the Trump presidency.
...
On my first day, I removed or caused to resign the heads of the five networks, as was my explicit right under law, and as is a common practice among incoming CEOs in the private and public sector. This move was clearly nonpartisan, as I had removed Republicans as well as Democrats, and they were essentially political appointees. The purpose was a clean start. The media portrayed this as “the Wednesday night massacre,” though only five out of 4000 employees left.
...
During the summer of 2020, in the midst of the presidential election, a whistleblower called our attention to a pro-Biden video on the Voice of America Urdu Service, the website of which could be viewed all over the world, including here in the U.S. The video was a repackaged Biden ad, literally. It featured then-candidate Biden, in Michigan, asking Muslims to vote for him with supporting appearances by Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, progressive Democratic congresswomen. No context was offered. Please view the video and decide for yourself:
Everyone knew this violated the VOA charter, which is U.S. law that we all are required to uphold, and possibly other campaign and broadcasting laws. When we called this to the VOA’s attention, they took it down, though reluctantly. A week later, we discovered an audio version was still available. As CEO, I decided to launch an investigation to determine who was responsible and what disciplinary actions should be taken. The investigation was led by USAGM career attorneys and our HR department, coordinated by a lawyer I had brought in to the agency. They recommended a series of actions, including terminating the contractors who produced the video and milder actions for their superiors, including leave without pay for a week or two.
This was not the first time the VOA had flagrantly violated U.S. law and its charter. During the 2016 election, the VOA Ukrainian service ran Robert De Niro’s infamous attack on Donald Trump calling him “a pig” and “a dog” and saying he wanted “to punch him in the face.” This, too, ran without context. Viewers were not told it was part of a pro-Hillary Clinton ad. The VOA is free to criticize the president or any candidate, but this was advocacy for one side, pure and simple. Remember, these are your tax dollars at work."
"I have witnessed the death of democracy. I don’t mean in a poor country with few democratic institutions and a weak rule of law. I don’t mean via a military coup or under pressure from a hostile power. I mean here in the United States, quietly and as a result of decades of decay — rot from within.
In a sense, we all witnessed it. From the moment Donald Trump was elected president until the day he left office, government officials refused to follow his orders that conflicted with their own views, in spite of their obligation to serve whoever is president. The permanent bureaucracy felt they knew better. After all, they were experts, while the president, in their estimation, was an ignoramus, or worse, unfit for office. For example, during Trump’s first impeachment, a parade of senior officials, many serving on the White House’s National Security Council or in the State Department, testified against their boss, making clear that their understanding of Ukraine was superior to his, liberating them to undermine his policies.
But I witnessed the death of democracy up close and personal. President Trump selected me to run the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which is responsible for all government international broadcasting. At a budget of about $850 million a year, USAGM is made up of five broadcasters: Voice of America, Cuba Broadcasting, Middle East Broadcasting Networks, Radio Free Asia, and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Together, they reach over 350 million people a week in over 70 languages.
...
The White House selected me in March 2017, two months after President Trump was sworn in. Agency leadership, along with others in the federal bureaucracy and eventually Democrats in the Senate, blocked my confirmation for three years and three months. I finally walked through the door of USAGM in June 2020 for the final eight months of the Trump presidency.
...
On my first day, I removed or caused to resign the heads of the five networks, as was my explicit right under law, and as is a common practice among incoming CEOs in the private and public sector. This move was clearly nonpartisan, as I had removed Republicans as well as Democrats, and they were essentially political appointees. The purpose was a clean start. The media portrayed this as “the Wednesday night massacre,” though only five out of 4000 employees left.
...
During the summer of 2020, in the midst of the presidential election, a whistleblower called our attention to a pro-Biden video on the Voice of America Urdu Service, the website of which could be viewed all over the world, including here in the U.S. The video was a repackaged Biden ad, literally. It featured then-candidate Biden, in Michigan, asking Muslims to vote for him with supporting appearances by Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, progressive Democratic congresswomen. No context was offered. Please view the video and decide for yourself:
Everyone knew this violated the VOA charter, which is U.S. law that we all are required to uphold, and possibly other campaign and broadcasting laws. When we called this to the VOA’s attention, they took it down, though reluctantly. A week later, we discovered an audio version was still available. As CEO, I decided to launch an investigation to determine who was responsible and what disciplinary actions should be taken. The investigation was led by USAGM career attorneys and our HR department, coordinated by a lawyer I had brought in to the agency. They recommended a series of actions, including terminating the contractors who produced the video and milder actions for their superiors, including leave without pay for a week or two.
This was not the first time the VOA had flagrantly violated U.S. law and its charter. During the 2016 election, the VOA Ukrainian service ran Robert De Niro’s infamous attack on Donald Trump calling him “a pig” and “a dog” and saying he wanted “to punch him in the face.” This, too, ran without context. Viewers were not told it was part of a pro-Hillary Clinton ad. The VOA is free to criticize the president or any candidate, but this was advocacy for one side, pure and simple. Remember, these are your tax dollars at work."
The Will of the People has been replaced with a Rule by the Bureaucratic Class.
The Bureaucratic class dress themselves in fake charity — to help women and children, minorities, and trees, but these are the lies they tell themselves while they oppress the poor, raze the trees and use sexist, racist policies to line their pockets.
It’s a trend occurring all over the West. But nowhere was it more obvious when the people elected Donald Trump, and the all-knowing Bureaucrats did everything in their power to extinguish the people’s votes.
https://joannenova.com.au/2021/11/the...