One problem I notice, is folks confusing the country with the government. The U.S. Government is a entity established by the United States, not the other way around. And what the U.S. Government as an entity does or doesn't do, has little bearing on what the United States really is.
Try reading the Preamble to the Constitution, and this all becomes clear....
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
The rest of the Constitution set up the parameters of government and guide map on how we would meet what was stated in the Preamble. We the people establish the government and set forth its parameters.
And as an entity, government does not always follow the will of the people or the principles set forth by the people. And it especially heinous when the government is the one who decides what is constitutional and what isn't, as is the situation we find ourselves in today.
But it is the hole we have dug for ourselves because we were not diligent enough to keep things in check since the war between the states.