“I do not know if the people of the United States would vote for superior men if they ran for office, but there can be no doubt that such men do not run.”—Alexis de Tocqueville

“I do not know if the people of the United States would vote for superior men if they ran for office, but there can be no doubt that such men do not run.”—Alexis de Tocqueville

What de Tocqueville said here seems to be a rather obvious truism. All we need to do is look at the current Congress—both parties—and most state and even local governments, to realize that “superior men” do not dominate any sector of America’s governmental structure. It’s not that all the people serving in government are Adolf Hitler reincarnated, degenerate, evil people, not even all Democrats. Not every Democrat always does “evil” things; they just believe evil things. Now, I suppose, one could define such a person as “evil,” and I wouldn’t argue the point. But there are some “decent” Democrats who don’t eat (or kill) babies. They just believe other people have the right to do so. That’s bad enough, obviously.

I’m trying to be as nice as I can here, folks.

America does have, and always has had, many decent people. But running a government requires more than just “decent” people. James Madison wrote, “The truth is all men having power ought to be mistrusted.” And he also told us why: “The aim of every political constitution is, or ought to be, first to obtain for rulers men who possess most wisdom to discern, and most virtue to pursue, the common good of the society, and in the next place, to take the most effectual precautions for keeping them........

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