Democracy isn’t government on cruise control. Democracy is a responsibility. Blaming politicians isn’t going to change the fact that it is not institutions that uphold democracy. It’s the people.

So yeah, ultimately the people failed themselves. Some people just need to learn the hard way. If that is the only way these people will learn, why try to stop them from getting their lessons?

Americans are basically spoiled children. Never experienced government hardship. Why expect them to understand the value of what they have that prevents the hardship?