The national myth of the 1950s was that America could be different from the old country.
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Many excellent points here, but this one just breaks my heart. I remember an America in which political corruption was the exception to the rule.
It was always there, but it was personal, not institutionalized. It was not part of the operating principles of the political parties. In the past, the corrupt merely sought to enrich themselves.
Today, the corrupt seek permanent political status. Obama and Holder want to make elections a mere formality authorizing the state party. McConnell and Boehner are happy to operate as a token minority lending credibility to the state party. To that end, anything goes. Laws are only enforced to that end.
The republicans don't oppose the democrats in practice, only in theory. In practice, they find a self-serving silver lining to the left's pursuit of absolute power. This is most evident in republican support of amnesty for illegals.