Last week, to the shock and consternation of the entire free world, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed into law a bill — while intended to rid the country’s principal independent anti-corruption agencies of suspected Russian influence — would in fact have granted control of those agencies to the government’s Prosecutor General.

The next day, the people of Ukraine took to the streets in protest.

Yesterday, crowds took to the streets of Kyiv to celebrate a new law restoring the independence of those two organizations: the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO).

Announcing the passage of the new law, Zelensky said on social media:

“This guarantees the normal, independent work of anti-corruption bodies and all law enforcement agencies in our country.” [RFE/RL, July 31, 2025.]

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That is proof of what can be accomplished when the people speak with one voice . . . and the president listens. That is democracy at work.

But what usually happens in an autocracy when the people protest government actions? Sometimes nothing, and sometimes worse. But in an astonishing turn of events this week, the government of Iran withdrew controversial legislation intended to counter what it called “fake news,” when some politicians and civil society groups warned of the dangers of some of the language of the bill.

Critics have called it the “bill of suffocation,” pointing out that vague phrases such as “disturbing public opinion” and “content against state security” — language echoing that of many of Russia’s oppressive laws — could be used as a pretext for arbitrary crackdowns on freedom of the press and legitimate dissent. [RFE/RL’s Radio Farda, July 30, 2025.]

Proponents of the bill naturally claim that the suggested measures are necessary to protect national security and preserve social stability . . . by providing for the punishment of anyone publishing “fake news” with onerous prison sentences of up to 15 years.

It is not clear whether this is now a dead issue, or if a revised bill is likely to be presented. But what is notable is that this retraction could occur at all in Iran — the country that Reporters Without Borders calls “one of the world’s most repressive countries in terms of press freedom.” [Id.]

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Meanwhile, in the United States, Donald Trump has claimed that The Wall Street Journal — a bastion of independent journalism since 1889 — is ready to offer a settlement of his law suit against them for their publication of articles concerning the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.

This is just the latest in a string of atrocities committed against the mass media, universities, major industries, and individuals who have caved in to the tyrannical demands of a single greedy, uncontrollable, megalomaniacal individual.

But where are the American people? Yes, we’re speaking out . . . but no one in Washington is paying attention. We have our days of protest, and many thousands of people show up . . . but nothing changes.

Why does it work so quickly in Ukraine, and even in Iran, but not here?

Clearly, we’re doing something wrong . . . or not doing enough. But the campaigns for next year’s mid-term elections are beginning, and that is where we the people can exercise our power. So if the present members of Congress are too afraid of losing their jobs to do their jobs, they might want to remember who gave them those jobs . . . and who can take them away.

And meanwhile, a lot more peaceful demonstrations wouldn’t hurt.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
8/1/25