A relevant quote from Abraham Lincoln from 1838:

[kentuck]

"[The character of a tyrant] scorns to tread in the footsteps of any predecessor, however illustrious. It thirsts and burns for distinction; and, if possible, it will have it…. Is it unreasonable then to expect, that some man possessed of … ambition sufficient to push it to its utmost stretch, will at some time, spring up among us? And when such a one does, it will require the people to be united with each other, attached to the government and laws, and generally intelligent, to successfully frustrate his designs.

Abraham Lincoln (1838)

[relayerbob]

1. "Generally intelligent"

Oh, well

[Laurelin]

2. That was my thought

We're doomed in Idiotville