2018-09-21

American Democracy Is in Crisis September 21, 2018 at 09:19PM


John Adams wrote that the definition of a republic is “a government of laws, and not of men.” That ideal is enshrined in two powerful principles: No one, not even the most powerful leader, is above the law, and all citizens are due equal protection under the law. Those are big ideas, radical when America was formed and still vital today. The Founders knew that a leader who refuses to be subject to the law or who politicizes or obstructs its enforcement is a tyrant, plain and simple.
That sounds a lot like Donald Trump. He told The New York Times, “I have an absolute right to do what I want to with the Justice Department.” Back in January, according to that paper, Trump’s lawyers sent Special Counsel Robert Mueller a letter making that same argument: If Trump interferes with an investigation, it’s not obstruction of justice, because he’s the president.
The Times also reported that Trump told White House aides that he had expected Attorney General Jeff Sessions to protect him, regardless of the law. According to Jim Comey, the president demanded that the FBI director pledge his loyalty not to the Constitution but to Trump himself. And he has urged the Justice Department to go after his political opponents, violating an American tradition reaching back to Thomas Jefferson. After the bitterly contentious election of 1800, Jefferson could have railed against “Crooked John Adams” and tried to jail his supporters. Instead, Jefferson used his inaugural address to declare: “We are all republicans, we are all federalists.” - http://bit.ly/2PVhDj0

No comments :

license to use my original content

is hereby granted as long as credit is given to the original author, this license should neither be understood as a claim that any image or content found here came from me nor should it be construed that I convey any license to use such content that did not come from me; the use of third-party images and the responsibility to assess the fair use of such or to procure a separate license to use them is the sole responsibility of the licensee, any clarification should be directed to the original author, see above
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
you can support the author by clicking one of the links below, Thanks!

amazon-nimbosa20-02

Lijit Stats Wijit - Recent Readers List