Carnival of the Decline of Democracy - Round Two

Welcome to Round Two of the Carnival of the Decline of Democracy - Blogging 'till the secret police take us away.

First, a confession by way of an explanation. Sometimes when I surf around I am stunned by some of the right-wing nuts out there spewing hatred. I must have been coming off such a voyage into their dark side when I first read Jon Swift's entry into the last edition of this carnival as I actually thought he was serious.

No such problem this week, as Swift brings us Guantanamo: Kafkaesque, in a Good Way. "By not forcing the detainees to contend with the stress of due process, they are being spared the negative outcome of a trial, since it would almost certainly end in a guilty verdict, although they seem to want to carry out the inevitable sentence prematurely."

Next we have Riverworks - The Housing Sums That Don't Add Up. "In this case an example of problems of British Local Democracy, rather
than US Democracy - though I'll bet the experience is shared." Riversider tells of a development going into an environmentally sensitive area where all local government agrees there is an "over-supply" of housing. "One thing is clear, the [developments] are being driven by the potential profits of developers, rather than by the wishes or needs of residents."

With Is Democracy Feasible? (Reflections on the Gettysburg Address) Ashok gives us a close reading and interpretation of Lincoln's famous address in an attempt at answering the question.

Hell's Handmaiden is back this week with Our Inherent Greatness. Does he believe in the concept? "The idea is a bit silly, like arguing the inborn greatness of some corporation. A corporation is an amalgam of people set to some purpose, and it rises or falls based upon what those people do. There is nothing innate about the matter."

The next edition of the Carnival will be posted on Monday, July 3rd, with entries requested by Thursday, June 29th, at midnight. For your entries, think about the significance of July Fourth and our current declining democracy.

Submit your blog post for the next edition of the carnival of the decline of democracy using our carnival submission form. More information on future carnivals can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Tags: carnival of the decline of democracy, blog carnival, politics, American government, Congress, Bush, Guantanamo, Kafka