The Constitution is in people's minds, or else it's nowhere.

We Americans may not realize it, but to a citizen of Romania or Somalia, our daily mentions of The Constitution -- with straight face -- come across as a childish naivete; a delusion of eternal Hippies who don't understand true dynamics of power. Simply because our world has not brutal enough to compel us, to bully us into growing up.

Only about five years ago have I fully grasped that significance of the habitual reference to The Constitution. It is not a child's pretend game, it is reinforcing a central pillar of the American society. 

The Constitution is in people's minds, or else it's nowhere. A piece of paper in the Library of Congress cannot be a central pillar of anything, nor can it protect anyone. It is people and their commitment that makes our Constitution alive. And that would fade away if its significance hadn't been reiterated daily. Corruption would become an accepted norm.

Is America at crossroads like Russia in 1917?

In the year 1917, after the fall of Russian monarchy, that country had a choice of a dictatorship and a dictatorship. The head of the newly formed Provisional Government, a relatively young politician Alexander Kerensky had attempted to steer the democratic course, an option that wasn't really on the table. 

The result was the greater of the two evils, a horrendous regime under Stalin, on par with the German Nazis, though not quite as bad. 

Is America at crossroads today, 100 years later, trying for a sane middle ground? 

Could it be that the only two realistic options are the crazy left and way-less-than-perfect right. Is American political dynamics at risk of repeating the Russian mistake?

No, our options are not the same as Russia's in 1917, not dictatorships. But if everyone is hell-bent on having their way exactly, down to the last letter, then nobody will get anything. We'll end up in unmentionable substance up to our eyebrows. Just as Russia. And we aren't going to like it.