Political theory v Political practice

There's theory and then there's practice.

There's a rule of law in theory.  In practice, it has always been the rule of men.  It will always be the rule of men.

So, if that is true, then what has changed?

First, let's state that the people who produced the US Constitution were well-grounded in Christian theology.  Now, I may be mistaken, but boldly I state that just about all Western men thought of themselves as being fallen creatures.  Men are decidedly not angels, but quite the opposite.  In recognizing this, it was decided that our government was to be a limited one, based upon checks and balances.  Such checks and balances were needed to offset one group against another so as to prevent one from tyrannizing the rest.  For if men were angels, such checks and balances wouldn't be needed, as angels being the perfect moral creatures that they are, would always do the right thing.  But men, on the other hand, won't.

Men are governed by vice, not by virtue.  For if men were guided by virtue, they'd be angels.  There is no such thing guiding us today, if I may be so bold.

Then it should be no surprise that Obama does what he does and that the GOP does what it does.  They aren't acting in accordance with any virtue, but in accordance with a vice of some kind or another.  Being politicians, they'll swear up and down what angels they are, but don't be fooled.  They serve themselves first foremost and always while claiming to be the servants of the people.  It is always been so.

But what changed?

Now the thing that has changed is that the governing class has seen fit to remove the constraints upon the general population- their moral and ethical development.  They are causing what moral safeguards that once existed in this land to be rent asunder.  This is rather foolish of them, but then again, they are men, not angels.  Corrupted people may be more easily controlled in some ways, but they become more and more unruly as they become more corrupted.  More government becomes necessary as people become more and more enslaved to evil.  Eventually, the government must become an oppressive one.

To paraphrase what John Adams once said, a free country requires a moral people, it can accept no less.  Morally, the US is losing its way.  It's true throughout all of Europe, the former home of Christendom.  But all of this corruption of the peoples has happened before in Western Civilization.  It happened in ancient Rome.  The ancient Romans were wise and moral people as well.  They rose to greatness, and due to their increasing corruption- lost their Republic and then their Empire.  It is happening again.  The ancient Romans, during the years of the Republic, also had checks on their politicians.  Eventually, the Emperors considered themselves as Gods.  We will see the same kind of thing here.  We have already seen a tendency to look upon politicians like Obama as a Messiah.

What could stop a collapse?  Perhaps nothing.  For the leadership is in control of this and it's the leadership who are at fault for bringing this corruption of the people about.

The sheep don't bear much responsibility.  They only ratify whatever is put in front of them by the leadership.

A new set of leaders could replace the current rotten crop, but that doesn't appear to be happening.  One could be optimistic, as there is nothing to prevent this lucky break from occurring.  But it isn't the way to bet.  The trend is all in the wrong direction.