{"id":13765,"date":"2017-11-01T15:58:42","date_gmt":"2017-11-01T15:58:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ancnews.info\/?p=13765"},"modified":"2017-11-01T15:58:42","modified_gmt":"2017-11-01T15:58:42","slug":"what-manafort-podesta-hastert-and-flynn-teach-us-about-american-democracy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ancnews.info\/?p=13765","title":{"rendered":"What Manafort, Podesta, Hastert, and Flynn Teach Us about American Democracy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">(ARMENIAN WEEKLY) When the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ancagrassroots\/\">Armenian National Committee of America<\/a> (ANCA) says \u201cgrassroots make the difference\u201d it\u2019s because we know that our voice is an authentically American one, representing registered voters and real tax-payers across our great country, not simply the <!--more Continue reading \/ \u0531\u0574\u0562\u0578\u0572\u057b\u0568 \u2192--> billable hours of a rented former politician or some pay-to-play PR firm.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Grassroots do make the difference, and we\u2019re seeing that difference in the news every single day.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Podesta disgraced. Hastert imprisoned. Manafort arrested. Flynn under investigation.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">It\u2019s no accident. It\u2019s a pattern.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">More than that, more often than not\u2014its a standard D.C. scam.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The immoral enriching the unethical. A marriage of the depraved and deplorable:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\">The fake lobbyists bank their cash;<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\">The corrupt \u201cleaders\u201d keep their power;<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\">The American people get sold a fake bill of goods;<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: justify;\">And the folks back home get the short end of the stick.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">It\u2019s a win-win for the insiders. Lose-lose for the rest.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Why? How does this happen, over and over again?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The answer\u2019s pretty simple.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Regimes lacking legitimacy back home hunger for validation in Washington.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Desperate for photo ops and always looking for a quick shortcut to a good reputation (instead of the tough but necessary work of good governance) authoritarian \u201cleaders\u201d are quick to fall for slick pitches by sleazy \u201cBeltway Bandits\u201d who inevitably fleece their foreign clients and then, very often by virtue of their own criminal conduct, crash and burn themselves.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">It\u2019s no coincidence that the disgraced Tony Podesta represents Azerbaijan\u2014taking millions to suppress Artsakh\u2019s democratic self-determination. No coincidence that Michael Flynn fronted for Turkey\u2014reaping riches to prevent honest American remembrance of the Armenian Genocide. No coincidence that Dick Gephardt and his fellow former U.S. House leader Dennis Hastert\u2014himself, a convicted felon and admitted child molester\u2014aided and abetted Turkey\u2019s obstruction of justice for the mass murder of millions of Christians.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The answer to this darkness is not more darkness, it\u2019s democracy.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">It\u2019s American citizens of Armenian heritage\u2014or any heritage\u2014participating in our participatory democracy. Engaging with Members of Congress, state level officials, and municipal leaders. Supporting legislation. Backing appropriations. Building coalitions. Working with the media. The good work\u2014the hard and honest work\u2014of a free people in a free land. #goANCA.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\">Aram Hamparian<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>Aram Hamparian is the Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>Photo: (L to R) Paul Manafort, Tony Podesta, Dennis Hastert, and Michael Flynn.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(ARMENIAN WEEKLY) When the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) says \u201cgrassroots make the difference\u201d it\u2019s because we know that our voice is an authentically American one, representing registered voters and real tax-payers across our great country, not simply the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13766,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[115],"tags":[126],"class_list":["post-13765","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-anca"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - 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