I see the illiterate sunk this story.

I see practically none of the above attributes in my fellow Americans any more. Part of it has to do with the deliberate dumbing down of the USA, and being fed a steady diet of propaganda and worthless television shows. It's very sad to see this nation no longer a republic, and in deep decline. I just hope I live to see a turnaround. If we don't somehow change our hedonistic, arrogant ways, we're on the road to self-destruction. Thanks for posting a thoughtful article, but the lack of response is disappointing.

Twain's quote was right on. Here's one from Thomas Jefferson:

"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."

My generation, the Baby Boomers, are largely responsible for this. We were the first generation that questioned organized religion and threw it out of our lives. The faults and fallacies of organized religion were real and should have been thrown out but unfortunately we also threw out the morals and rules of civilized behaviour along with it. Over the decades since, this has resulted in re-interpretation of our constitution, the deterioration of the family, the rise in drug abuse and our general decline into decadence and immorality. I doubt it is reversible; instead I suspect that at some point we will be taken over by fundamentalist enemies (Muslims?) Unfortunately, people do not seem to be able to follow a logical moral pathway without the structure and rules of organized religion.