From the CNN.

'Renewing our democracy ... requires constant effort'

Democracy, in essence, is all about finding answers to the toughest questions. 
 
Joe Biden is finding this out after opening his two-day virtual summit 
dedicated to the idea that people should get to choose their leaders. The 
meeting, highlighting the President’s belief that there is an existential 
global contest between democracy and autocracy, has triggered controversy over 
its purpose, guest list and chances of making any difference.  
 
To start with there’s a big red, white and blue elephant in the room: How can 
the US preach to others about democracy when its own is increasingly tattered? 
It’s hardly a stretch that a US President might hold a summit of democracies. 
But no one would have thought it would follow a coup attempt incited from the 
Oval Office. This haunting reality is exacerbated by Republican attempts to 
deny ex-President Donald Trump’s insurrectionism and to make voting harder and 
election-stealing easier. 
 
"I wanted to host this summit because ... here in the United States we know as 
well as anyone that renewing our democracy and strengthening our democratic 
institutions requires constant effort,” Biden said. 
 
You think?  
 
Hosting a democracy summit was always going to poke some in the eye. Some 
democracy activists in the US complained the President isn’t living up to his 
own standards, by failing to agree to end Senate filibuster rules that make it 
impossible to pass laws safeguarding fair US elections. And China and Russia, 
among the most flagrant transgressors of democratic principles on Biden’s list, 
have mocked and condemned the summit. 
 
Some invited guests are also raising eyebrows. India, for example, is the 
world’s largest democracy. But the rule of Hindu nationalist Prime Minister 
Narendra Modi has eroded press freedoms and human rights and has featured 
discriminatory policies against Muslims. On the other hand, nothing says 
"people power in action" like the months of protests that forced Modi to climb 
down over hotly opposed farm laws. The Philippines and Poland are also involved 
in the summit — perhaps on the basis that their democracies need a boost. 
However, Hungary, whose ultranationalist leader, Viktor Orban, is a hero of the 
Trump gang, didn’t get an invite. 
 
Still, it’s easy to carp. And Biden’s point remains important: Global democracy 
is under assault. And on more days than not, it seems that the autocrats and 
extremists who want to kill it off are winning. 

Roland Francis
416-453-3371

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