Is Your Democracy in Trouble?

Freedom House is a well-respected worldwide democracy watchdog. Founded by Eleanor Roosevelt among others it describes itself as

Non-partisan and broad-based, Freedom House is led by a Board of Trustees composed of leading Democrats, Republicans, and independents; business and labor leaders; former senior government officials; scholars; writers; and journalists. All are united in the view that American leadership in international affairs is essential to the cause of human rights and freedom.
...It has championed the rights of democratic activists, religious believers, trade unionists, journalists, and proponents of free markets.

...Today, Freedom House is a leading advocate of the world's young democracies, which are coping with the debilitating legacy of statism, dictatorship, and political repression. It conducts an array of U.S. and overseas research, advocacy, education, and training initiatives that promote human rights, democracy, free market economics, the rule of law, independent media, and U.S. engagement in international affairs.

Sounds like a nice bunch of kids. In a recent report which warns us about the collapse of freedoms in Russia, they outlined six warning signs that give them cause for their concern:

The latest reports detail:
• The concentration of political and economic power in the hands of a corrupt elite that puts personal gain above the public good.
  
• The elimination of genuine political competition in the country's electoral processes.
  
• The creation of an atmosphere of fear in which the media and civil society risk reprisals for independent actions and unsanctioned attitudes.
  
• The entrenchment of a judicial and law enforcement system that is rife with political manipulation and corruption.
  
• The stifling of entrepreneurialism and foreign investment in the face of weak enforcement of contracts and property rights.
  
• The failure to achieve a political resolution to the war in Chechnya and the resulting escalation of terrorism and extremism.

Hmm..."concentration of political and economic power"?...like say Dick Cheney & Haliburton?...Duke Energy, Enron and the Bush Administration?...the GOP & Diebold?...
Hmm..."creation of an atmosphere of fear in which the media...risk reprisals for...unsanctioned attitudes"?...like when members of the White House Press Corps lose their priveleges after asking the President difficult or politically embarrassing questions?...conversely "Jeff Gannon" being given extraordinary access in order to pitch softballs...
Hmm..."entrenchment of a judicial...system that is rife with political manipulation and corruption"?...anyone remember the unprecidented ruling of the Supreme Court in a little case known as Gore v Bush? Since when does the SC say essentially "this is our ruling for this case alone but don't base any future rulings upon this"?...the Administration trying to force through unqualified jurists into federal judgeships...
Hmm..."stifling of entrepreneurialism and foreign investment"...now just who was and was not allowed to bid on contracts to help rebuild Iraq?...
Hmm..."failure to achieve a political resolution to the war in Chechnya and the resulting escalation of terrorism and extremism."...meanwhile Iraq is just peachy, isn't it?

Now, in no way would I ever say that freedom in the US is any near as curtailed as in Russia. But, isn't it sadly telling that we even see so many parallels? Shouldn't we be practically polar opposites to the currupt Putin government in Russia? And if this is the direction countries take as the Ship of Democracy heads for the rocks, then we need some different folks up on the bridge.