Because we have no government, armed with power, capable of contending with human passions, unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge and licentiousness would break the strongest cords of our Constitution, as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other. — John Adams

My Take – President Adams could have been describing how our political process has been running for the past decade or so.  Our republic is in trouble because of the desire by a sizable part of our population who want something for nothing, who want to profit without risk or sacrifice, and who use the political and legal process as a bludgeon against their foes.  If we have any hope of pulling ourselves out of this spiral, we need to remember that the government serves to benefit all of our citizens, not just those with connections or are part of a special demographic.  Failing that, we need to steel ourselves to the inevitable slide into tyranny.