CAR, the platitudes sound great but the people you vote for vote to suppress the freedom of individuals, silence their opponents, and resort to ad hominem attacks instead of facts while logic and reason are rarely part of the equation. I’m reminded of an old computer acronym: GIGO. If one’s facts are wrong in the first instance it only makes sense that their conclusions are also incorrect. Or, frankly, a ’40’s German saying they love the Jews while supporting Hitler. I’m sure it makes them feel great about themselves, but it sucks for the Jews.
As to your last paragraph. A big part of me wants to embrace that view. The sad reality, however, is too few people are interested. Candidates use attack ads, for example, because they work. If the other side doesn’t do the same they are probably in trouble. The voters likely get what they deserve.
And that was the beauty of the original Constitution and why I so resent left-wingers who reject originalism and embrace a so-called “living Constitution”. The original system gave the federal government very limited powers. So hippies could have all the greatest ideas in the world and were free to employ them in their own lives without, as they do now, shoving them down the throats of others who have their own ideas.
