Aristotle said the same thing over 2300 years ago. The least they could have done is mentioned him in this piece.
"...Aristotle said the same thing over 2300 years ago. The least they could have done is mentioned him in this piece...."
I also would venture to say that the depiction of the great Pericles in this piece borders on slander. Pericles actaully tried to steer a middle course between the Athenian doves (who were anti-democrat aristorcrats who sympathized with Sparta) and the radical war party, led by the duplicitous scoundrel and demogogue (he practically invented the term) Alcibiades. Pericles wanted to use judicious force and military/naval strength to convince the Spartans to modify their war-like behavior vis-a-vis Corinth and other city states that bristled under Athenian suzereignity. He thought this would avoid war without endangering Athenian democracy and the remnants of the democratic-oriented Delian League. He was no warmonger by any means.
Having said this, there are many leassons for the U.S. to learn from the demise of the Athenia empire. Certainly the ill-fated war over Sicily (here referenced as the battle against Syracuse) was key to the eventual end of the empire. The U.S. must be certain not to make the same mistake in its effort to bring democracy, however we define it, to the world.
Plato's Republic delineated the cycle of constitutions. The section on democracy is hilarious and written as if it was happening yesterday. Unconditional liberty takes a big hit. Great stuff.