p>For over thirty years, World War II veteran and author Burt Hall assessed accountability in government and national security. Now, this seasoned, professional analyst delivers a tough account of what went wrong in our politics and system of government over the past two decades and what we can do about it. The right wing (not to be confused with Conservatism) has hijacked the Republican Party and wrecked havoc on our nation. It exploited basic flaws in our system to gain power and a series of major setbacks and a weakened democracy have followed. The Right-Wing Threat to Democracy lays out clearly what the basic flaws in our system are and how they can be fixed. The danger is that an ongoing shift of political power to the very wealthy and suppression of voting rights is silencing the voice of the average citizen. If elected officials do not fix the basic flaws, the American people have alternatives in our democracy and must take matters into their own hands. The Right-Wing Threat to Democracy The Undoing of America's Exceptionalism By Burt Hall iUniverse, Inc. Copyright © 2012 Burt Hall All right reserved. ISBN: 978-1-4759-2696-5 Contents Highlights....................................................................................................................................................xi1) Rejection of People's choice of President..................................................................................................................12) Now in Charge, Right-Wing Administration Does Not Respond to Extraordinary Warnings of Impending 9/11 Attacks..............................................223) LAUNCHING TWO NEEDLESS WARS................................................................................................................................544) Resulting Decline in US Foreign Policy and National Security...............................................................................................725) Passing on a Nation in Decline.............................................................................................................................846) A Second Rejection of People's choice of President.........................................................................................................987) Repairing Our System of Democracy..........................................................................................................................1078) Repairing Our System of Politics...........................................................................................................................139President John F Kennedy—A Final Comment................................................................................................................160Appendix I Special letter to Secretary Powell from high-level US diplomat explaining why he is resigning from the Bush administration........................163Appendix II Special article by Rev Dr Graham Standish on Religion in Politics................................................................................166Appendix III Special article disclosing Senator John McCain's key role in promoting the war in Iraq..........................................................171Appendix IV Remedies to Repair Our System of Government......................................................................................................175Appendix V Patriot Millionaires: Let the Bush Tax Cuts Expire Once and for All...............................................................................178Appendix VI Special Article by Nick Hanauer: A Billionaire's views on Taxes..................................................................................183Appendix VII Special Excerpts from Article by Rob Hayes and James Marc Lear: Why the Citizens United Decision is Constitutionally Flawed.....................187Appendix VIII Special article by Cynthia Carpathios: Independent Voters Urge Reforms to Limit Partisan Political Power.......................................191Appendix IX Special article by Olympia Snowe: Why I'm Leaving the Senate.....................................................................................193Appendix X Special article by Senator Collins: Yes, the Political Center Can Be Saved........................................................................196Acknowledgements..............................................................................................................................................199 Chapter One REJECTION OF PEOPLE'S CHOICE OF PRESIDENT "We are an endangered species ... my wing of the party has been swept into oblivion by the ultra right, which now controls the Republican agenda." A former moderate Republican The right wing of the Republican Party decides what it wants to do and then pursues a win-at-any-cost strategy to achieve its ends. Right wing adherents assume they have a "divine" right to govern and a right to tear