The Limits of Dissent

The Preamble to the Constitution reads:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence,promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

From here extract the phrase "a more perfect Union". This forms the framing that any criticism must follow to enter the political mainstream in the US. Any other framing is marginalized, kept off the air, not considered "serious". Doesn't matter what the reality is, doesn't matter whether we're sliding down an abyss. Torture, indefinite detention and suspension of habeas corpus, illegal wiretapping, the gutting of the rule of law - none of these stir any passion in the people at large, because they violate the underlying mode of thought. "We are perfect and can only become more perfect".