Our institutions [appear to be] holding out against Trump’s onslaught.
Well, other than the GOP, which caved completely.
[For some background on why the GOP is enabling Trump, see:
& this thread on authoritarianism: ]
In our system, prosecutors decide.
Trump has tried hard to bring prosecutors under his control.
Remember the reports that Trump lashing out to Whitaker in frustration (at least twice!) that the Mueller probe was continuing?
cnn.com/2018/12/21/pol…
It also seems obvious to me that if Trump is lashing out over revelations that came to light about Michael Cohen, it means Trump is frustrated that he can't get anyone to stop the investigations.
Whitaker has an incentive NOT to actually impede the investigations: He’s a prosecutor and, I assume, wants a career as a prosecutor after Trump.
Besides, I've argued that he can't.
The onward march of the investigations tells me that prosecutorial independence is withstanding Trump's onslaught.
Trump is doing his best to bring the press under his control.
huffingtonpost.com/entry/2018-bad…
He encourages & closes his eyes to violence against journalists, he calls the press the "enemy of the people," he openly bullies journalists.
Finally, the Courts.
Yes, Trump will install right wing judges.
I have also seen panic over the possibility that SCOTUS will allow Trump to escape accountability or pardon himself & co-conspirators.
Let's think that through.
Here’s a cynical reason why SCOTUS won’t allow such a thing:
The Court has lots of power. If it enables an autocrat, it loses its power.
law.cornell.edu/wex/precedent
If SCOTUS rules that Trump can pardon himself, Trump in the future can commit any crime and pardon himself.
See where that can lead?
Why would they do that?
There’s also a non-cynical reason the justices won’t do it: They value democracy.
For people who say, “But what about Bush v. Gore,” — yeah, the Court lost a lot of credibility with that, and they’ve been trying to repair the damage.
Other institutions limit Trump’s power: States retain a lot of control.
Soon Dems will take control of the House.
It seems to me that enough people are rising to the national emergency so that we can get past this and repair the damage.
nytimes.com/2018/12/23/us/…
Trump and decades of GOP norm-breaking brought the U.S. to the brink of a regime change.
Then liberal democracy in America was saved by the strength of our democratic institutions.