US going the way of the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth?

[eridani]

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/03/16/1371324/-Adelson-and-Kristol-attempt-the-first-Liberum-Veto-in-US-history

If you know your history, this is not an insult; but, rather, a tragedy in progress. The P-LC was a powerful and progressive state during the early Reformation era, reaching its Golden Age in about 1575.

The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth became a counterpoint to the absolute monarchies gaining power in Europe. Its quasi-democratic political system of Golden Liberty, albeit limited to nobility, was mostly unprecedented in the history of Europe. In itself, it constituted a fundamental precedent for the later development of European constitutional monarchies.

However the series of power struggles between the lesser nobility (szlachta), the higher nobility (magnates), and elected kings, undermined citizenship values and gradually eroded the government's authority, ability to function and provide for national defense. The infamous liberum veto procedure was used to paralyze parliamentary proceedings beginning in the second half of the 17th century.

- Wikipedia P-LC

The failure of the P-LC flavor of democracy used to be taught to schoolchildren in civics class (what's that?) as a cautionary tale. Clearly, the US has reached the "doomed to relive it" part of Santayana's dictum on history.

Just to be clear about what is going down in America today: A billionaire "magnate" sits in the gallery of Congress while his hired stooges ($1M contributed to Tom Cotton's campaign by some Jewish "emergency" committee run by Bill Kristol) violate two hundred years of protocol and further show their disrespect for the President. The HoR has interfered in foreign affairs by inviting a hostile-to-the-President politician, who is another lying neanderthal heavily funded by the same billionaire - Sheldon Adelson.

Come below the fold to see the disturbing parallels between the P-LC's demise and the billionaire-sponsored death spiral of US democracy.