Surveys of voters in Rep. Anthony Weiner’s district in Queens, N.Y., show that they forgive him and want him to remain as their congressman. End of story. This is a democracy, right? And the House of Representatives is the people’s house. No, it’s not the end of the story. It’s all the more reason to recall why America’s founders designed a constitutional republic with a federal government of limited, enumerated powers. And it’s why we should be deeply concerned that these constitutional limitations have been systematically undermined by court decisions over the years, resulting in the runaway government and debts we have today.

The nation’s founders were realists, cynics if you prefer, regarding what to expect from human behavior.