What's Newsworthy, Or Important, Almost The President's Racist Tweet-Storm? (Short Answer: It's Non Anything Almost Trump Himself.)

As I'm certain you've all heard yesteryear now, the President of the U.S. of A. of America issued a serial of grotesque, race-baiting, xenophobic (not to advert factually inaccurate) tweets this morning.

Of course of study he did.  After all, it's a 24-hour interval of the calendar week ending inward "ay."

As horrifying equally this is, it isn't news.  Nor does it state us a unmarried thing that everyone didn't already know virtually Trump, the audience to whom he addressed his bile, in addition to the 40+ per centum of the electorate who volition vote for him ane time again no affair what he does.  (Are you lot surprised inward the to the lowest degree that the reaction on FoxNews was gleeful?)

So it's non an peculiarly of import or revealing incident, inward in addition to of itself.

What is important--although also, lamentable to say, hardly groundbreaking--is that non a unmarried ane of the 250 Republican members of Congress, nor anyone who has served inward Trump's Administration, volition publicly admit that this lead demonstrates Trump's patent unfitness to concord the highest business office inward the nation (or whatever office, for that matter).  Indeed, real few of the 250 (any?) volition so much equally criticize the tweets, or telephone phone them what they are.

Why should this 24-hour interval hold upwardly whatever different?  They were still when his response to a plausible allegation of rape was "She's non my type."  They were still when he cozied upwardly to in addition to coddled autocrats such equally Orban, Putin, Erdogan, Kim Jong Un in addition to bin Salman.  They were still when he refused to permit anyone inward his direction to hold upwardly privy to his discussions with the Russian President.  They were still when he--repeatedly--spewed outrageous calumnies against countless dedicated, talented in addition to patriotic officials inward the Intelligence Community, DOJ in addition to the FBI.  They were (mostly) still when he mocked John McCain for having been captured inward Vietnam; when he referred to "blood coming out of her wherever" when speaking of Megyn Kelly; when he sneered at Khizr in addition to Ghazala Khan; when he claimed that thousands ofNew Bailiwick of Jersey Muslims cheered the 9/11 attacks in addition to so openly mocked Serge Kovaleski's disability when the reporter called out his lies.  They were still when the Mueller Report described a serial of self-interested violations of his constitutional duties in addition to well-established norms inward an attempt to undermine the most of import counterintelligence investigation of a generation.  They were still when he gave an Independence Day speech communication inward which he described the Continental Army equally "seiz[ing] victory from Cornwallis of Yorktown," "ramm[ing] the ramparts," taking over the airports, in addition to so watching the star-spangled banner "wave[] defiant” at dawn.

The list, of course, goes on . . . in addition to on, in addition to on, in addition to on.  "Grab 'em yesteryear the pussy."  "There are real fine people on both sides."  "Shithole countries."  Ad nauseam.  When one's projection is (apparently) to lower the bar each in addition to every day, there's no shortage of bear witness of this vile man's unfitness for business office in addition to degradation of populace discourse.  Every reader of this weblog could easily position roughly other dozen or to a greater extent than examples.

There was a 24-hour interval (or so I'd similar to think) inward which at that topographic point would convey been a consensus outcry, alongside virtually all populace officials in addition to figures, in addition to virtually all commentators, writers in addition to even, yes, academics, no affair their partisan affiliations, that each in addition to every ane of these things was beyond the pale--that whatever unmarried ane of them obviously rendered Trump unfit for office.  Today, however, there's virtual quiet from Republicans inward power, in addition to the intellectual in addition to political classes that back upwardly them, equally the deviancy is defined downward repeatedly.  (Indeed, fifty-fifty onetime President Bush in addition to serious individuals who've worked for Trump in addition to seen the deviancy upwardly close--think Mattis/McMaster, et al.--hold their tongues.)  It's non Trump's lead itself that's "normalized" the unthinkable--it's the utter absence of whatever concerted, bipartisan offend in addition to warning inward response.

To hold upwardly sure, at that topographic point are a handful of brave exceptions, most of whom are employed yesteryear or write nether the aegis of the Washington Post, Lawfare or "[a]mong conservatives, NeverTrumpism is already a fringe in addition to irrelevant movement."

Meanwhile, many officials in addition to lawyers inward the Executive branch--including a meaning number who are probable horrified yesteryear Trump's racialist words in addition to agenda--continue to go assiduously to "cure" the President's policies of discriminatory taint yesteryear dressing them upwardly inward facially nondiscriminatory dress.  And several Justices of the Supreme Court--sometimes fifty-fifty a majority--will, inward at to the lowest degree roughly of import cases (e.g., Trump v. Hawaii; Thomas's dissent inward the census case), ignore what everyone knows to hold upwardly the truth:  They will, inward the words of Chief Justice Roberts inward the census case, "exhibit a naiveté from which ordinary citizens are free,”  in addition to defer to the pretextual bases that the professional person lawyers convey conjured to defend the policies inward question, no affair how ugly their obvious genesis or what purpose they play with Trump's intended audience.  [UPDATE:  And then, ane time the Court has deferred to the President, those same executive branch lawyers in addition to officers reflexively assume that's a dark-green low-cal to implement what they know to hold upwardly unlawfully motivated policies, when inward truth it should hold upwardly anything but--their oath should compel them, inward that case, to smoke out the President's manifestly illegitimate motives (cf. Sally Yates).  As Professors Aleinikoff in addition to Pillard wrote inward 1998, “[i]f the political branches parrot the courts’ lenient scrutiny, everyone has deferred to everyone else, in addition to nobody has done the full-fledged constitutional analysis.”  The Court’s deference to the President “does non give the political branches a blank banking concern check to create equally they please, but leaves them with a special responsibleness to comply with constitutional norms inward thought of a diminished judicial backstop.”  I discussed this inquiry in greater particular here inward the wake of the Court's determination inward the Travel Ban case.]

To reiterate:  By at ane time none of this is newsworthy.  It's our novel normal.

So why create I bother writing virtually it?  Mostly to lament something else we've all known for quite a while, fifty-fifty if we're understandably reticent to admit it in addition to state it aloud because it's so deeply disconcerting--namely, that our revered institutions are not, in addition to volition non be, bulwarks against what was ane time unthinkable.  And thus the answer to "Can It Happen Here?" is at ane time likewise manifest, unequivocal . . . in addition to terrifying:  Of course of study it could--probably with barely a whimper, in addition to with the acquiescence (or worse) of the entirety of ane of our major political parties in addition to a meaning minority of Americans.  If virtually no ane in the GOP so much equally objects to Trump's litany of outrages, is at that topographic point whatever argue to call upwardly a bulk of that Party would all of a abrupt position regulation in addition to the Nation's well-being ahead of partisan wages if the authoritarian winds sweeping over Europe in addition to other places inward the the world brand it at our shores?