Trump Signed a Contract to Uphold the Rule of Law. He’s Stiffing America on That Deal.
What happens to a nation when its leader decides he is above the law?
In the United States, the rule of law has an almost mythical quality. It is the bedrock of our entire democratic system of government and, at crucial times in our history, the legal system has been at the vanguard of delivering on the promise of America.
But at its heart, the rule of law is merely a social contract between the governed and those who govern. It is effective as long as we collectively submit to its wisdom and judgments.
What happens, though, when one side welches on that contract and refuses to agree to its primacy? We are watching in real time as the most important signatory to that contract — the man responsible for enforcing the rule of law — simply decides that he no longer must submit to it at all.
The loud, stupid proof of that this week was Trump’s apparent deep involvement in the “storming of the SCIF,” in which dozens of Republican congressmen bumbled their way into the secure location where impeachment interviews were being conducted. After all, throwing your body in the way of investigators is the very definition of obstruction of justice.
