President of the Institute of European Higher Studies on Venezuelan Elections

[Socialistlemur]

1. It's time to acknowledge that democracy involves much more than counting votes

True democracy has to involve the existence of free media without monopolies, and evidently a sturdy voter ID system. Also it sure helps to have electoral authorities and the courts be as disconnected as possible from the party structures. I sense many countries get established powers with bureaucracies they control and a subtly controlled media. This is why it's important to have a free Internet. Otherwise we can't be informed properly.

Message to the NSA: I have the sense that you read more than just stuff about atomic bombs, Osama bin Laden and Chinese hackers. You must have a ton of information you can use to blackmail politicians. I think all NSA employees owe it to the country to either quit their jobs and/or send information to the newspapers revealing all the crap that ges on.