Trump’s using a flimsy excuse is essentially saying, “I can do whatever I want for whatever reason I want.” Being obliged to give a reasonable reason would actually be bowing to a kind of constrained power — the presidency limited by reason, by logic, by reason-giving. He wants us to know he is unconstrained. He wants us to know he can exercise power arbitrarily.
Journalist Masha Gessen on the similarities between Putin and Trump.
(Image by Masha Gessen) Details DMCA
Republicans in Congress have been anxiously sitting on the fence for four months, trying to decide whether Trump has gone too far, and they should flee from him. These are the cowards with enormous power over the future of our country.
This attacks the heart of the promise of America: a nation ruled by laws and reason, a thoughtful, human nation. We fought a revolution to free ourselves from arbitrary power and the whims of a monarch. We now must fight a new revolution to protect it.
At www.bostonglobe.com
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