i’m trying to say, at a federal level, we have never actually had democracy

And I’m saying that that’s not true, while conceding the fact that it’s always been flawed.

250 years of history containing oligarchs, capitalism, class warfare, racism, and manufactured consent does not leave room for any level of actual democracy.

Wrong again. You should REALLY let go of your false dichotomy that only a perfectly democratic system is a democracy at all. Otherwise you’ll never be satisfied OR right.