Of course, like the fall of the Roman Empire, the path to government of the people by the people and for the people might take another 1500 years.
In one of these systems anyone like McChrystal is irrelevant. In the other of these systems, anyone like Biden is irrelevant. Many of us have been betting on honor, truth and hard work. This has been foolish. Now things might start to go the other way when the US has to fall back on the strength of its own citizens rather than it's ability to live off of the rest of the world.
General Bidet