In yesterday’s blog, I related the founding generation’s assumptions regarding the necessity of virtue in stable republics. Many conservatives today believe our early years after Independence was an idyllic era of strong private and public virtue. Some tend to disbelieve the 1787 Constitution was necessary. Resting on that belief, the same conservatives look about today, see nothing but corruption of public virtue, and throw their hands up in despair of ever returning the US to freedom. Contrary to common belief, the first dozen years after Independence were something of a governing and political mess. Right out of the chute in...