American Democracy Does Not Exist
[](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QVEF!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe29e98cf-4ed3-4a72-ab33-df2c354125b3_1478x802.png)
*[Reading by Tim Foley](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8z8jlouXBs)*:
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Thomas Massie has lost his congressional seat against a primary opponent whose Israel lobby funding made the race [the most expensive House of Representatives primary](https://www.politico.com/news/2026/05/17/massie-aipac-record-spending-israel-maga-trump-primary-00925375) in history. Massie has been a rare Republican [opponent of Israeli abuses](https://responsiblestatecraft.org/massie-loss-aipac-primary/) on Capitol Hill.
The spending on Massie’s ouster topped out at a staggering $32 million when all was said and done. The second- and third-most expensive House primary races were also heavily slanted by Israel lobby funding, with AIPAC pouring millions into toppling progressive Democrats [Cori Bush](https://theintercept.com/2024/08/06/aipac-cori-bush-election-results-wesley-bell/) and [Jamaal Bowman](https://theintercept.com/2024/06/26/jamaal-bowman-primary-aipac-latimer/).
Americans just watched the Israel lobby openly manipulate yet another election, and then in like two weeks they’re going to hear their government tell them they need to regime change another foreign country to bring “democracy” to its people. Americans themselves do not have democracy.
The ceasefire with Iran [is tenuous](https://news.antiwar.com/2026/05/19/trump-threatens-iran-with-a-big-hit-if-deal-isnt-reached-in-the-coming-days/) and could end at any time. Washington is currently drumming up [ridiculously transparent pretexts](https://news.antiwar.com/2026/05/17/us-officials-work-on-creating-pretexts-to-attack-cuba/) to justify attacking Cuba. And you just know as soon as the bombs start falling on whatever country they’re going to fall on, Americans will be told this is a good thing because it will bring freedom and democracy to whatever population is getting ripped apart by military explosives.
It’s just so silly how often the US propaganda machine bangs on about “democracy” while vast fortunes are poured into slanting the American electoral process to advance the agendas of plutocrats and special interest groups.
Let’s bring democracy to the Iraqi people! Oh no, the Russians are interfering in our democracy!
And meanwhile nothing of the sort actually exists in America. When the elections go toward whoever can afford to spend the most on manipulating and deceiving the public into voting their way, that’s not democracy. That’s plutocracy.
The rich buy up news outlets and social media platforms, pour funding into think tanks and lobby groups, and sponsor the primary campaigns of anyone who disagrees with them, and in so doing they are able to exert enough influence to get the public to vote in whatever way advances their agendas.
That’s why Americans have a joke of a minimum wage and no normal healthcare system. It’s why corporations are allowed to exploit the working class and pollute the environment without consequence. It’s why AI is being shoved down our throats with zero regulation while it consumes our clean water and takes our jobs. And it’s why American-made bombs are still falling in Lebanon and Gaza.
The rich and powerful are going to keep doing this until they are made to stop. They’re going to keep using their wealth and influence to manipulate public behavior until people stop allowing them to. You can’t vote this problem away, because they control the votes.
Forget about bringing democracy to Cuba. Try bringing democracy to the United States.
\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_
Caitlin’s Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
*The best way to make sure you see everything I publish is to [get on my free mailing list](https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/). My work is [entirely reader-supported](https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2021/05/24/my-experiments-with-hacking-capitalism/), so if you enjoyed this piece [here are some options](https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/about) where you can toss some money into my tip jar if you want to. [Click here for links for my social media, books, merch, and audio/video versions of each article](https://caitlinjohnstone.com/). All my work is [free to bootleg and use](https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/reminder-all-my-work-may-be-freely) in any way, shape or form; republish it, translate it, use it on merchandise; whatever you want. All works co-authored with my husband Tim Foley.*
Bitcoin donations: 1Ac7PCQXoQoLA9Sh8fhAgiU3PHA2EX5Zm2
---
**From [Caitlin’s Newsletter](https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/feed) via [This RSS Feed](https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/feed).**
*[Reading by Tim Foley](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8z8jlouXBs)*:
[Subscribe now](https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/subscribe?)
Thomas Massie has lost his congressional seat against a primary opponent whose Israel lobby funding made the race [the most expensive House of Representatives primary](https://www.politico.com/news/2026/05/17/massie-aipac-record-spending-israel-maga-trump-primary-00925375) in history. Massie has been a rare Republican [opponent of Israeli abuses](https://responsiblestatecraft.org/massie-loss-aipac-primary/) on Capitol Hill.
The spending on Massie’s ouster topped out at a staggering $32 million when all was said and done. The second- and third-most expensive House primary races were also heavily slanted by Israel lobby funding, with AIPAC pouring millions into toppling progressive Democrats [Cori Bush](https://theintercept.com/2024/08/06/aipac-cori-bush-election-results-wesley-bell/) and [Jamaal Bowman](https://theintercept.com/2024/06/26/jamaal-bowman-primary-aipac-latimer/).
Americans just watched the Israel lobby openly manipulate yet another election, and then in like two weeks they’re going to hear their government tell them they need to regime change another foreign country to bring “democracy” to its people. Americans themselves do not have democracy.
The ceasefire with Iran [is tenuous](https://news.antiwar.com/2026/05/19/trump-threatens-iran-with-a-big-hit-if-deal-isnt-reached-in-the-coming-days/) and could end at any time. Washington is currently drumming up [ridiculously transparent pretexts](https://news.antiwar.com/2026/05/17/us-officials-work-on-creating-pretexts-to-attack-cuba/) to justify attacking Cuba. And you just know as soon as the bombs start falling on whatever country they’re going to fall on, Americans will be told this is a good thing because it will bring freedom and democracy to whatever population is getting ripped apart by military explosives.
It’s just so silly how often the US propaganda machine bangs on about “democracy” while vast fortunes are poured into slanting the American electoral process to advance the agendas of plutocrats and special interest groups.
Let’s bring democracy to the Iraqi people! Oh no, the Russians are interfering in our democracy!
And meanwhile nothing of the sort actually exists in America. When the elections go toward whoever can afford to spend the most on manipulating and deceiving the public into voting their way, that’s not democracy. That’s plutocracy.
The rich buy up news outlets and social media platforms, pour funding into think tanks and lobby groups, and sponsor the primary campaigns of anyone who disagrees with them, and in so doing they are able to exert enough influence to get the public to vote in whatever way advances their agendas.
That’s why Americans have a joke of a minimum wage and no normal healthcare system. It’s why corporations are allowed to exploit the working class and pollute the environment without consequence. It’s why AI is being shoved down our throats with zero regulation while it consumes our clean water and takes our jobs. And it’s why American-made bombs are still falling in Lebanon and Gaza.
The rich and powerful are going to keep doing this until they are made to stop. They’re going to keep using their wealth and influence to manipulate public behavior until people stop allowing them to. You can’t vote this problem away, because they control the votes.
Forget about bringing democracy to Cuba. Try bringing democracy to the United States.
\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_
Caitlin’s Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
*The best way to make sure you see everything I publish is to [get on my free mailing list](https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/). My work is [entirely reader-supported](https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2021/05/24/my-experiments-with-hacking-capitalism/), so if you enjoyed this piece [here are some options](https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/about) where you can toss some money into my tip jar if you want to. [Click here for links for my social media, books, merch, and audio/video versions of each article](https://caitlinjohnstone.com/). All my work is [free to bootleg and use](https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/reminder-all-my-work-may-be-freely) in any way, shape or form; republish it, translate it, use it on merchandise; whatever you want. All works co-authored with my husband Tim Foley.*
Bitcoin donations: 1Ac7PCQXoQoLA9Sh8fhAgiU3PHA2EX5Zm2
---
**From [Caitlin’s Newsletter](https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/feed) via [This RSS Feed](https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/feed).**