 So, following the reversal of Roe v Wade, an Irish member of the European Parliament decided to call out the United States and what you're going to see is this absolute legend go on one of the best rants that I've ever seen. And it's really important that other countries call us out because Americans are under this delusion that we're the only country on the planet. They visualize planet Earth and then there's just one country. No other countries have figured out how to deliver healthcare to their citizens or do things in a different and better way. No, that's the way that we behave, right? That's the way that a lot of Americans are raised and conditioned to think. But Mick Wallace here, leftist member of the European Parliament, is going to challenge us directly and this rant is amazing. A woman's right to choose is a human right. Why are we so quiet about challenging the US when they're threatening human rights? Some people have said in here, oh, we can't be, why, how dare we talk about the US? Well, we talk about everybody else. Is the US a functioning democracy? Well, let's have a look at it. It costs two billion to become president. They have 25% of the total prisoners in the world. They spend over 800 billion a year on arms, which is more than most of the world put together. They've been at war for 250 years since their state was formed 275 years ago. But they can't afford universal healthcare. They can't afford a 1.7 trillion debt forgiveness for students. They can't afford a program for the 17 million children that go to bed hungry. Is this a functioning democracy? What's your idea of a democracy? Bernie Sanders wasn't even allowed to win the nomination for the Democrats. The Americans couldn't spell democracy. God damn. The Americans couldn't spell democracy. And he is absolutely correct. And I wish that more people from other countries would speak up. I mean, within the next 10 to 20 years, assuming the United States actually does see, you know, a greater rise in fascism and democracy falls. The Supreme Court affirms independent state legislature theory and Republican steel elections and there's more violence. Other countries are going to have to grapple with the prospect of American refugees, especially Mexico and Canada. And, you know, it's to the point where even political scientists are warning that there's going to be political unrest and violence in the United States in 2024, regardless of who wins. And that makes sense, right? Because if Trump wins, well, he's going to use his power as the president to enact violence. Ron DeSantis is functionally a fascist already. He's very savvy. So imagine if you had executive power. But I mean, if a Democrat wins, then we might see another January 6th, perhaps a worse January 6th. So people around the world, when they speak up, I genuinely appreciate it. When people from Canada share their experience with healthcare and how it's something that they don't have to think about. I genuinely appreciate that. So for this man to go before the world stage and rip the United States a new asshole for being a terrible democracy in an all around shitty country with miserable people who are aren't even able to get the basic needs met by government. I really, really respect that a lot. Now, speaking of that article, I think that this is something that people really need to pay attention to because it is going to get worse in the United States. There's already criticisms of the United States. But just for a moment, stop and appreciate where we're at, because as bad as things are right now with Roe v. Wade falling with civil rights and civil liberties under attack by a rogue judicial branch, we're bound to see more civil rights and civil liberties be taken away. We're bound to see things get worse, unfortunately. And I don't want to be like this doomer, but this is the reality that we're dealing with currently. So we have to not be naive about what is coming. So political scientists is saying it's going to be desperately bad. I just want to read a little bit of this. So a political scientist is warning that the political situation in the United States is deteriorating and that the United States Supreme Court could soon give it a final push over the edge. Writing on Twitter, Louisiana State University associate professor of political communication, Nathan Calmo, warns of significant political instability in the United States in the coming years, especially at the United States. Supreme Court embraces the so-called independent state legislature theory. So you're going to be hearing more about this. And you're going to be hearing more about Morvey Harper, which is going to be the case where the Supreme Court decides if this theory is embraced. And it's not so much of a theory as it is a blank check for Republicans to quite literally override the will of voters and democracy as we know it that would eliminate any judicial review over how state legislatures drop their congressional districts. I don't think people, including political scientists, fully appreciate the scale of the coming cataclysm in the US over the next three plus years, especially after the 2024 presidential election, no matter the outcome, he writes, it will be desperately bad and we must be ready. He then links to a Washington Post editorial that outlines the dangers of the Supreme Court getting oversight for congressional redistricting, which the editorial declares is a recipe for election tampering. All of the leads, Calmo to conclude, all of this leads, Calmo to conclude that it's more likely than not that the United States will face many terrible scenarios that undermine democracy and civil peace. And I absolutely agree. I wish that people for once would listen to political scientists because they're right about this. They know the signs. They know what to look for. I mean, democracy, believe it or not, is a relatively new concept, globally speaking, and most democracies fall relatively quickly. Now, the United States have has been lucky enough to enjoy democracy. And I use the word democracy very charitably here because we're a very fucked up democracy. But we've been lucky enough to have some sort of democracy for a very long time, but every single democracy has an expiration point. I've been saying this for years now, since I started the Humanist Report and people said that I was being hyperbolic and crazy. But this is just the empirical observation that political scientists have made. Democracies die, right? They have to be shepherded. They have to be, you know, taken care of. You can't just let it go and just expect democracy to thrive. You know, it's an ongoing project. We're all supposed to add to democracy each generation. But our institutions have failed us and we haven't been able to do that. So, yeah, I really, again, getting back to the European Parliament member, we need more people like that around the world to call us out to hold our public officials accountable, because it seems like the government doesn't care about what we have to say. And I don't necessarily think that, you know, international shame is going to change us, change the trajectory. But, damn, does it feel good to see other people point out what we've all been pointing out? So, yeah.