Losing faith even in the pretense

It's increasingly evident we have anything BUT the rule of law in this country.  Celebrities routinely get privileged treatment for their indiscretions.  Those who flaunt the system are often treated better than those who try to live honorably.  Worse, we have people in both elected and unelected positions of authority who seem immune from the rules applied to the rest of us. 

I'm not idealistic enough to believe we've ever had perfect governance.  I do, however, believe this nation once had a public ethos and a vigilance that required crooks and shysters to be more discrete.  In a fallen world, there are always parasites... but they don't have to result in the death of the host.  We're at a point now, though, where I sense those with connections are doing all they can to pick clean the stumbling body of the nation before it finally collapses from years of systematic abuse.

And I'm not the only one...