[semantic]

The crux of the issue is this: when will Greenfield and other enlightened students of government begin to really understand that Franklin, Adams, Jefferson, Tocqueville, et al were essentially lying to cover for their own egotistical motivations?

Weren't they in effect no different than someone handing the keys to a powerful car to a teenager, but first warning them of the potential dangers? And then, after the car is wrapped around a tree, they plead innocence by claiming they provided adequate warning and advice.

To wit, Adams et al knew the system was gamed from the git go, notwithstanding their attempted face saving gestures. Once you abandon monarchy, a republican system cannot resist dilution - there is simply no bulwark to prevent expansion of the franchise. Eventually, whether sooner or later, a society reaches the point we're currently at that is accelerating toward dissolution.

Since there's no recovery, there can only be a crack up and then re-set. Complaining about the obvious is just a waste of energy. Today is our future.

[Albion Wilde]

nce you abandon monarchy, a republican system cannot resist dilution - there is simply no bulwark to prevent expansion of the franchise. Eventually, whether sooner or later, a society reaches the point we're currently at that is accelerating toward dissolution.

Yes; all the monarchies of Europe are doing so very well these days.