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AP’s Today in History for October 18th
Inventor Thomas Edison dies; Three scientists share Nobel prize for DNA work; Anthrax scare hits CBS in New York; Two U.S. athletes suspended for Mexico City Olympics protest; Rock star Chuck Berry born.
Breakfast Tune “Cripple Creek” performed by Rhiannon Giddens, Banjo l Met Music
Something to think about, Breakfast News & Blogs below
Total Collapse Of Democracy So Horrifying America Decides It Hasn’t Happened Yet
T.O.
WASHINGTON—As citizens across the nation sought to insulate themselves from mounting evidence to the contrary, several reports indicated Monday that the idea of the total collapse of democracy was so horrifying that America decided it hadn’t happened yet.
“We can’t let them take away our democracy,” said Prescott, AZ insurance agent Daniel Cross, echoing the concerns of a terrified American populace that imagined a future in which the nation’s democratic ideals were hopelessly compromised, and determined that in the meantime, the Electoral College, U.S. Senate, unelected Supreme Court, increased power concentrated in the presidency, lack of universal suffrage, frequent executive overrides of decisions that had majority support of the American populace, the manipulation of voting boundaries on the federal, state, and local levels, a strict two-party system that used legislative means to effectively prevent additional parties from gaining traction, widespread voter suppression, corporate control of the media, massive lobbying sector, outsourcing of public services to profit-driven private firms, concentration of power among a few wealthy individuals, complex legal labyrinths designed to prevent regular people from exercising their basic rights, deregulation that led to widespread health, environmental, and economic hardship, unfettered campaign donations, effective legal immunity on the basis of status, wealth, or membership in a state police force, legal and economic obstacles to free assembly and free speech, poor education in both critical thinking and democratic ideas, unelected local councils and boards with significant influence over the distribution of public resources without fair notice or inclusion of the general populace, and the repeated efforts by the United States to undermine democracy in foreign countries at the expense of undermining its own democratic processes at home didn’t currently exist. “This election is a make-or-break moment for our democracy. It’s the most important election of our lifetimes.”
Additional reports suggested that the prospects of a badly compromised political system in the United States were so disturbing to contemplate that Americans decided that real democracy had at some point actually existed.
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WALKER BRAGMAN, ANDREW PEREZ
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ROB URIE
Something to think about over coffee prozac
Biden: Let the troops decide where to invade next
Major Crunch
CINCINNATI, Ohio – During a campaign swing through Ohio this week, former vice president Joe Biden promised that if he is elected president, he will let “the troops decide” where the United States should invade next.
“For too long, political leaders from both sides of the aisle have used the military in questionable adventures overseas, often in the pursuit of ambiguous strategic goals,” said Biden to supporters. “That’s not likely to change, to be honest. But what we can change is how we choose where we’re going. Who here wouldn’t rather invade, say, Rio de Janeiro for some sweet oil instead of Fallujah.”
“Come on man,” he continued. “Iraq and Afghanistan are important partners in combating global terror, but no one in their right mind has ever said, ‘You know where I want to spend our vacation this year? Kabul.’ Our troops are tired of this malarkey.”
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