""[I] warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party...
"All obstructions to the execution of the Laws, all combinations and associations, under whatever plausible character, with the real design to direct, control, counteract, or awe the regular deliberation and action of the constituted authorities, are . . . of fatal tendency. They serve to organize faction...
"...they are likely . . . to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people..."
—George Washington, Farewell Address, Sept. 17, 1796