To the editor:

At Eggs and Issues, I brought up what I believe is the essential issue that everyone should be talking about: that the United States may lose its democratic status.

For those who don’t know, the group that monitors and reports on the democratic status of nations put out a warning that the United States may not qualify as a democracy in next year’s report. When I brought up the issue, only Kraayenbrink spoke on the issue. He was very dismissive, explaining that we are a republic — not a democracy — which, duh, no country is a true democracy because voting on every decision would be a very inefficient way to govern. Then he went on to repeat the company line, which is that we have to ensure only citizens are voting. This is not the threat to democracy.

For those interested, here are the threats to our democracy that the report cited: firing of watchdogs without process, purging apolitical police and military brass, government officials ignoring laws, unilaterally deleting government programs, demanding Justice Department persecute media and adversaries, threatening universities with sanctions, invoking war measures in a time of peace and openly defying court orders. These are very real threats to our democracy. Will we stand up against these threats and save our democracy? Or will this democracy perish?

Amber Rouse

Fort Dodge