You all know why the Founders didn't create a Democracy, but instead created a Constitutional Representative Republic. No sense in rehashing that.
The problem is the thing they were most fearful of, factionalism, which abounds in a democracy, is beginning to undermine the Republic in spite of the checks and balances of a Republic. Why? Because the other thing they worried about, careerist politicians and an electorate that is uninformed and lackadaisical has infested the Republic. Those two items have caused the Constitution to be mainly either ignored or criminally violated by those careerists while an uninformed public goes blithely about their business being entertained and having their bread provided by the careerists. The Founders knew that leaders had to rise up, lead, and then fade away. The Founders also knew that individual citizens need to be informed and involved in the Republic. ("We gave you a Republic, Madam, if you can keep it." Franklin) Sadly, the things they feared the most are taking hold in spite of their monumental effort and work.
As a young lad, I used to hear all the comparisons to Rome. I never really imagined that the rot so freely and universally known about the Roman Empire, would bring down our country in my lifetime.
I think a column by Maureen Dowd that I read a couple days ago is a perfect example of the coarsening of our culture and perfectly outlined by Dowd, albeit unwittingly. Oddly, her column was intended to be a mockery of Rick Santorum and that he is a man of Christian faith and that he is a danger to society as we prefer it. Dowd's examples of her described preferred cultural norm as opposed to Santorum's beliefs were in reality a glaring example of her elevating the rot and coarseness that our culture is undergoing, while distorting and demeaning values that many, perhaps most of us, deep down adhere.
Now, I'm not intending to get into any discussion about Santorum and his beliefs that have mostly been distorted by the media etc. anyway. That's not my purpose here. Agree with him or disagree with him. Fine. It's just that Dowd's arrogant and mean spirited column glaringly exposed the cultural coarsening that is driving us down. In some ways its so sad to watch a person spew nasty about others when they are usually describing their own behavior and beliefs.
PS: Napolitano's comments were very well said and should be seriously contemplated. Instead, he's fired. How typical.
