Our kinda-bad system of government relying heavily on social norms & personal restraint that are no longer present and without which it's extremely vulnerable t

Our kinda-bad system of government relying heavily on social norms & personal restraint that are no longer present and without which it's extremely vulnerable to malicious game-thinking methods and crass populist manipulation to bring it down from within, is where I'd point the finger. I expect future historians will point to Nixon's pardon as the beginning of the end.