A Wretched Situation
The failure of the Secret Service to provide adequate protection to a standard-bearer for one of the major parties is the latest example of American breakdown.
In the debates over the Constitution in 1787 and 1788, the anti-Federalists warned that Madison’s elaborate constitutional architecture in support of a liberal republic would eventually break down. The ingenious separation of powers that envisioned a government of checks and balances to diffuse power and protect liberty would not withstand the indelible vices of human nature. The people, they warned, would not always be virtuous. “Virtue will slumber,” Patrick Henry warned. “The wicked will be continually watching. Consequently you will be undone.”
In recent years, Americans have had abundant occasion to be reminded of the melancholy truth that the cause of self-government suffers immensely in the absence of virtue among the people. The current election season, and the attempted assassination of former president Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, has thrown a spotlight on this problem.
