President Trump’s decision today to unite the DC police and deploying troops of the National Guard in the city is a good reminder of the importance of what we discussed on Friday: the need for political opposition to tell the abuse of Trump power and the content of the American Constitution, to be crystalline on what will be restored when the Democrats are back from the law. It makes even more relevant to examine and remember the critical importance of the consent of the governed.
This is part of American civic culture to marvel at the process of peaceful transfer of power. We organize an election under a specific set of rules. The winners of these elections inherit a wide range of powers. The president takes control of the army and a vast federal bureaucracy. The president has a huge range of prerogative powers. What he says goes, in specific kingdoms. Legislators make new laws. Judges make decisions on imprisonment, compensation for people’s damage, etc. etc. The wonder is that a whole population of more than 340 million people freely access this power. We have ordinary criminal conduct which is controlled and punished. But focus on this free compliance. The vast majority of us never come into real contact with the coercive power of the state. And yet, almost everyone, even the purest and hard opponents of this administration, recognizes that this president has a whole pack of legitimate powers and we will conform to it.
Why is it?
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