I think what we're seeing in both parties neatly bookends the extreme possibilities when an institution puts its thumb on the scale. The establishment picking a candidate in either party will piss off the many mightily, and please an important few.

I know this is supposed to be well-intentioned checks-n-balances within the parties, and the parties are supposed to be stabilizing forces. But how well is that working out in Congress these days, with one party determined to blow everything up? The Senate isn't looking much like the teacher's lounge in Congressional middle-school these days. And let's not even go into the Republican Primary: Blitzkrieg to the White House 2016.

Stability, not so much on the GOP side.

A little too much stability on the Democratic side.

Two sides of the same coin.

I would say I support laissez-faire democracy: Universal suffrage, take the vote and let the chips fall where they may. I don't see any moral alternative--either you believe that self-determination through democracy is a good thing, or you don't.

Which is a pretty scary position to take at times like these, isn't it? And that's the very thing that a demagogue like Trump is effectively exploiting with his strongman message to scared authoritarians. He's not very subtle when he implies we've been enjoying a little too much democracy in recent decades. But he's just the guy to Make America Grate Again!