[pasbesoin]

There is an important point in this: The American public (i.e. citizenry) must look itself in the face and question what it has begotten.

Our "leaders" really mostly follow. They follow votes. They follow money. Increasingly, the influence of money (and the votes, and redistricting into "safe" districts, that it can buy) appears to be superceding that of raw, individual votes.

But it is still the citizens who cast those votes.

It's not just "them." It is "us." (For U.S. citizens. And for non-citizens who have various forms of influence upon U.S. policy, directly or in response to it.)

In that sense, it might be argued we have very much gotten the government we deserve.

If we think we deserve better, it is up to us. Not them.