Off-Topic: 2011 State of the Union Address

I think the main thing preventing the recurrence of the 2000-2004 election antics is that people are keeping a much closer watch now.
Since those 2 Bush elections people are much more aware of what goes on in politics. We can see that from the massive influx of interest in political commentary shows, blogs, news sources, etc.
Sometimes I joke that Bush was a great thing because it seems that people needed to really be fucked over in order to take notice of the politics in their country

Another thing preventing it I think is the example that the Obama presidency is setting. I think the American people will be largely reluctant to go back to what they had before after they have had solid progress for 4 years. But then the republican party are very good at making comebacks so I won't get too hopeful about that.

If by "the beginning" you mean the US constitution then I think it's a mix; I don't think one can say the tone of the constitution is to protect people from themselves and external forces.
The constitution and relevant amendments start to become confusing when you try to guess at "purpose" because different people have different ideas about what certain words mean. It's like the Bible; without talking to the original authors it's hard to say what they meant most of the time.
I think one judgement about the constitution that is valid is that they were making great effort to err on the side of caution by giving its people ample freedoms and limiting government influence because they were trying to be very careful to not repeat what they saw as the mistakes of the British government by being too overbearing.

As for the "element of faith" argument, that's all well and good if the election system is good in the first place, but right now reducing checks and balances on government employees/politicians is unpredictable. Some, like you, will probably use that new freedom to improve things, while others will abuse it. So I think the system we use to choose who occupy those influential positions needs to be improved before they are given more leeway, not at the same time or after.

ElScorcho:yeah, take it Subbeh, take it!

always!