What people need to understand is that, in every society, there is ALWAYS a subset of people who crave power over others, and they ALWAYS gravitate to whoever they think will provide that for them...and that is as true for the US as it was for Russia, Nazi Germany, and North Korea.
What differentiates us is the relative size of that group. They are always a minority, but in white culture, they are a small minority - so they were kept at bay for hundreds of years. In just about every other country, they were/are large enough to seize power by force.
They are still a very small minority in the US...but they are very, very smart - while the majority are clueless as to the threat they represent. Now they’re just one Senate seat from seizing power here, PERMANENTLY (at least for most FReepers) - and no, your guns won’t help once they obtain the power they crave, they’ll then have plenty of ways to deal with you guys that doesn’t involve direct combat.
They are still a very small minority in the US...but they are very, very smart
Have to disagree from the perspective of first-hand experience. They don't have a moral or ethical compass, won't observe laws or regulations and have no inhibition to margins. The shortest path between points A & B for them is to pass by and around all of that, which is getting easier all the time since there is apparently little interest in investigating and prosecuting such reprobates. When some actually get called to account for their criminal - that's what it is - behaviors, they have no plan B - their ambition and arrogance has led to a blind alley. No super villain plan to escape from that and thwart the good guys. And they can't expect direct and open assistance from fellow traveler criminals either. They'll go scarce and scatter like flushed quail from that noise - they don't want their particular gigs endangered by being caught up in the blast radius of someone else's failure. So no, mere talent for treachery isn't the same as having actual smarts.