I didn't mean to imply that. I think the US is a republic with some vestiges of democracy, but I feel that's corrupt as well at this point.

sadly so. what hurts double is that the US is kind f a role model (or has been fr us Europeans) because we kind of grow up with Hollywood and it's original values (freedom). Seeing this deteriorate feels like a betrayal when as a foreigner you have no way of shaping their policy (yet still be affected by it)

You can buy or hack elections same as anybody else, and you can campain on issues. If anything, foreign Hacker News readers have more say than the average U.S. citizen.

It should be a republic, but it isn't really. Republic implies rule of law, which the U.S. doesn't really have anymore. The government, and to a certain extent the upper classes, are not ruled by law at all, they have impunity, and neither are the lower classes, as they mostly bargain a plea deal.