Lincoln's Gettysburg address in 1863, declared that we: "… shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." Today, more than 150 years later, how many Americans truly believe that this is a government, of, for, and by the people? While it is true that our government most certainly has not perished, in fact, unfortunately, quite the opposite is true, that our government in all of its many forms and colors, has actually become far more intrusive, far more demanding, and far more commanding of its citizenry, so that today the people have little concept of what a properly formed government should really be like.
Presently, we live in a country to which the most vital and important activities that our government is often participating in, are things that we as citizens, are not privileged to really even know about; things such as our endless involvement in the foreign affairs of other nations, as well as our many governmental covert activities that are often deliberately hidden or obscured from the public's view. Additionally, the government makes it policy to spy domestically and extract all sorts of data on all of its citizens, under the false flag, of protecting the homeland.
The thing is it is impossible for the citizenry to hold the government accountable if the citizenry is essentially held clueless about what the government is actually up to, and with layers upon layers of secrets and misdirection that no one could possibly work their way through, in addition to the endless lies and deceptions at the highest echelons of our government, to which none are ever held accountable, makes the entire show of accountability a hopeless exercise in futility.
The present government is in reality and intent not of the people, but rather it is a separate government, sovereign only to those that are part of that same social milieu, to which the good of the people, is not even conceived of, in fact, it isn't even considered. Instead, this government and the parties to it, go about their business for the sake of their own aggrandizement, and if there is hell to be paid for stupid or miscalculated decisions, it will be paid by the blood, sweat, and toil of the people, in their faithful devotion to their country, which asks for their patriotic dedication to a government that sees them at best, as subjects, born to serve those that are their betters.
None of this should be happening nor should it have ever come to this, in a country that once truly was the beacon of hope for the tired and the poor, but now its own people are too often exploited, manipulated, used, and then tossed away as damaged goods. Unfortunately, we live in a land to which the leaders of such in conjunction with the almighty military-industrial complex work hand-in-hand to do what they believe should be done so as to gratify their selfish objectives, preferably behind closed doors, with access restricted to only those with a need-to-know, creating position papers that twist and turn clear rules into whatever the government wills instead to perform, because this government cares not at all for the welfare of its people, for it's the new American Caesar, a law unto itself.