At practice, a football coach was working hard with his defensive line. On every play, they managed to make mistakes and were nailed by the offense. The right guard, especially, could not perform. In desperation, the coach stepped in and told the guard that he, the coach, would play the position to show him how it was done. The ball was snapped, and the coach was buried in the turf, faring no better than his player. The coach jumped up, ran over to the guard he had replaced and grabbed him by the jersey. "See," he shouted, "you have screwed up this position so badly NO ONE can play it!"

That's what we Americans have done to our politics, and the blame is widespread. A restart is needed, and somehow will happen. We could begin with defining exactly what values our government ought to reflect. (Is racism good, or is racism bad? I vote bad. Money in politics: Good or bad? I say bad.) Of course, we may not be able to play that game either.