There is no practical way that I can make use of the availability of such ratings to protect myself (let alone others) from the damage to the economy that is being caused by the conflicts of interest being described here.

How do I get my employer-provided-pension fund to do this, when they depend on these rating agencies to ensure they only invest in safe, AAA rated securities?

Do you know if they do it?

Big investors do it. They contract independent firms to double-check their own traders' thinking and decisions.

It's usually not proactive though. (PE firms get valuation checks before investment, but that's different than bonds.)