is because he is following the directions of many someones that are a lot more knowledgeable about government than he, and those that he surrounds himself with. The idea that Donald waltzed into D.C. and toppled Democracy can't possibly be the truth. We were well on our way. He leaves office and what happens? Money still owns us, just more overtly. Whoever replaces can't possibly be as brash and egotistical, but hey...Hollywood has plenty of assholes to choose from.

But your point is well taken. The big money (including the rubles) will be continuing this track if not checked.

After we annexed most of the continent we gradually got fat, lazy, and disinterested. Then kooks, religious fanatics, and grifters took over the press, the courts, the schools, and the government. Our failures are intermingled with the shortcomings of your original design. Still, we almost got to 250 years and that's pretty good for a country experimenting with a new form of government.

But no, we couldn't keep it.

If they can learn from our mistakes, thereby improving their governments and the quality of people staffing them in a steady and sensible manner, hope remains.

Perhaps in time we too can reclaim some fragments of what we lost in just the last 3 months, but it will be the long and difficult struggle of decades to come. The institutional damage has been, and will continue to be, immense. We have not hit the darkest hours yet.

I hope when Americans rebuild, the rebuilders will include protection to ensure this calamity can never happen again. What that looks like, I can't fully imagine, but they will have the lessons of history on their side and possibly the goodwill of advanced nations as allies to bootstrap their efforts.