Our Hopelessly Dysfunctional Democracy

Authored by Charles Hugh-Smith via OfTwoMinds blog,
When the system is rigged, "democracy" is just another public-relations screen to mask the unsavory reality of Oligarchy.
Democracy in America has become a hollow shell. The conventional markers of democracy--elections and elected representatives--exist, but they are mere facades; the mechanisms of setting the course of the nation are corrupt, and the power lies outside the public's reach.