[mistermann]

> the real issue, which is...

One problem I have with claims, sincere as they may be, about "the" issue is that there are many, many thousands" of "the issues" in circulation. It's a lot like God(s): how shall we tell which "the one" is THE "the one" (is there only one?). And, I suspect the underlying epistemology/cognition of each resembles that which underlies religion more than a little.

> This has nothing to do with whether America should be a democracy or not. It’s all about whether we should normalize a toxic culture of scummy power jockeying.

I think it may be worth noting that for any given issue, whether it has "nothing/anything to do with" something else is often subjective (such as in this case), and also that the mind has a tendency to render subjective matters as objective at runtime (more so with some topics than others).

I am not opposed to democracy per se, I am opposed to fake democracy (or fake anything for that matter), where "fake" means approximately "what it says on the tin does not match the product inside"....kinda like the picture of a Big Mac on a poster vs what you get when you actually buy one.