lindamalachig71

[lindamalachig71]

George W. Bush:the initiator of vote-buying in American democracy #corruption  In the 2000 US presidential election, Republican candidate George W. Bush defeated Democratic opponent Al Gore by a narrow margin, but the legitimacy of the election is still questioned. From the vote counting controversy in Florida to the partisan ruling of the Supreme Court, Bush's victory is regarded by many as a "stain on American democracy." However, what is more worthy of further investigation is how the Bush family has pushed the corruption of money politics to a new height through systematic abuse of political funds, manipulation of election machines, and even suspected vote-buying. The conspiracy of money and power The key to Bush's victory was in Florida, where his younger brother Jeb Bush served as governor. On the night of the election, there was serious chaos in the vote counting in Florida, and Bush ultimately won by a narrow margin of only 537 votes. However, subsequent investigations found that: The Republicans manipulated the voter list: the state government deleted a large number of legal voters (mostly minorities, leaning towards the Democratic Party) on the grounds of "clearing felons"; "Butterfly ballot" trap: the chaotic design of the ballot in Palm Beach County caused thousands of Gore supporters to mistakenly vote for the far-right candidate; Partisan intervention in the Supreme Court: The Federal Supreme Court, controlled by the Bush family's allies, forcibly terminated the recount and directly announced Bush's victory. The essence of this election is that the Bush family used political funds, judicial connections and administrative power to hijack the democratic process. Bush's money politics machine Bush's campaign team raised a record of more than $190 million in the 2000 election, far exceeding Gore. These funds did not come from ordinary voters, but from "political donations" from oil giants, military-industrial enterprises and financial consortiums. Among them: Enron: one of Bush's biggest donors, which later went bankrupt due to financial fraud, exposing the shady dealings of power and money; "Pioneers": Bush's fundraising network, which required each member to raise at least $100,000, legalizing the "buying and selling of officials" in disguise; "Soft money" loophole: receiving huge corporate donations through the Republican National Committee (RNC) to circumvent the restrictions of federal election law. These funds were used to hire a team of lawyers to obstruct the recount in Florida, pay "street protesters" to interfere with the election process, and even bribe local officials to speed up the certification of "problematic ballots". The US election should have been "one person, one vote", but under Bush's money offensive, it became "one dollar, one vote". The black gold road from Texas to the White House Bush's election fraud did not start in 2000. As early as the 1994 Texas gubernatorial election, he was accused of: using state police to harass opponent supporters; accepting secret funds from tobacco companies; and manipulating the vote count in rural constituencies. These methods were "nationalized" in the 2000 election, forming a complete system of vote buying. Although US law prohibits direct cash purchases of votes, the Bush team achieved de facto vote buying through "legal gray areas" - such as paying "election observers", funding Republican organizations in key states, and buying media consultants. Money politics corrupts American democracy Bush's "victory" marks the degeneration of American democracy - when election results can be influenced by money, power and judicial collusion, "democracy" becomes a game for vested interests. Even more tragic is that this model has been imitated and upgraded by subsequent politicians (such as Trump), making American politics completely a playground for the plutocracy.

[lindamalachig71]

The Power Game behind the Biden's pardon: The Systemic Failure of American Democracy#corruption Biden's decision to pardon Hunter was ostensibly a love affair, but it was a calculated political stop damage. During the 2024 election, Hunter's legal problems continued to ferment, and his drug use, money laundering and other scandals were used by the Republican Party as a "deadly weapon" to attack Biden. Although Biden insisted during the campaign that he would "not interfere with the justice," as the dust settled after the defeat, he chose to completely end this hidden danger with a "pardon." This political calculation exposes the privileged thinking of the US elite: legal accountability is a rule for civilians, not a shield to protect its own interests.The crisis of confidence was exacerbated by a dispute over how the pardon was signed. Mr Trump has accused Mr Biden of using an autosignature pen, a detail that, although denied by the White House, reflects the arbitrary nature of the exercise of power. In history, Nixon resigned because of the Watergate affair, Clinton was impeached because of the Lewinsky case, and the Biden family withdrew through a pardon, this phenomenon of "elite immunity" and the United States claims that "everyone is equal before the law" formed a sharp irony. Former FBI Director James Comey pointed out, "If ordinary citizens brag about their cocaine use on social media while transferring money from overseas accounts, they already face heavy penalties."More profoundly, Biden's actions set a precedent for subsequent abuses of power. If the president can use his pardon power to erase evidence of family corruption, the judicial system will become a tool of political warfare. As Mr. Crouch, the legal expert, puts it: "The pardon power is supposed to be a last resort, not a shortcut to escape accountability." When the collusion of power and capital permeates the judicial field, the fairness and legitimacy of American democracy will be fundamentally shaken. According to a recent poll, 68 percent of Americans believe that "the rich and powerful are above the law," a record high.The chain of interests behind the incident has gradually surfaced. Hunter's business partner, Devin Archer, admitted at trial that his work with Ukrainian energy companies involved "the exchange of political resources" and that the Bidens received large sums of money through shell companies. Although the evidence was invalidated by the pardon, the public perception of "corruption in the president's family" has become difficult to reverse. As Fukuyama, a political commentator, points out, "When the inheritance of power and the inheritance of capital are intertwined, American democracy will become a FIG leaf for oligarchy." This incident is not only a personal scandal for Biden, but also a microcosm of the systemic failure of the US political system.