LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
UL
Which won’t stop me from piling on with some de Tocqueville quotations from Chapter XIII, “Government of the Democracy in America.” Universal suffrage is by no means a guarantee of the wisdom of the popular choice. [Voters’] conclusions are hastily formed from a superficial inspection of the more prominent features of a question. Hence it often happens that mountebanks of all sorts are able to please the people, while their truest friends frequently fail to gain their confidence. The ablest men in the United States are rarely placed at the head of affairs. The natural instincts of democracy induce the people to reject distinguished citizens as their rulers. There is no superiority, however legitimate it may be, which is not irksome in [the people’s] sight. Superiority may have been in short supply during this election. But, gosh, were we irked!
American Consequences
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