You are wise. The Republic that the Founding Fathers created no longer exists. It has morphed into a Banana Republic. President Trump is attempting to revive it, but is being fought every inch by both political parties and the national media
It took a long time to kill it, but a semblance or "Zombie" republic kept up appearances until about 1994.
The futility of the Republicans taking over the House and the Senate showed us the real people in charge were the Mediacracy.