"In the world of sports, there is an old maxim that captures the essence of competitive athletics: " Play the ball, not the person. " Play the ball, focus on the competition itself, honor the game, and don't try to humiliate or hate your opponent. This is one of the many lessons that our current president appears never to have learned or accepted. President Trump is the classic "play the person" kind of leader. He seems to take pleasure in making everything personal. His approach does great damage to our culture and politics. It is also deeply destructive of our legal system."
"On Wednesday, Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick, who is handling the preliminary phases of the Comey case, was the first up, and he gave a master class in judicial pushback. As the New York Times reports, he "repeatedly expressed his frustration-and at times his barely restrained annoyance-with [the federal prosecutor] during an otherwise procedural hearing in which he ordered the Justice Department to produce records from its investigation.""
President Trump commonly makes political conflicts personal and openly names enemies while signaling willingness to see them prosecuted. The president has expressed desires to prosecute figures such as John Bolton, Letitia James, and James Comey, reflecting an "all's fair in love and war" ethos. That approach risks degrading political culture and the integrity of the legal system by pressuring prosecutorial action for personal or political ends. Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick demonstrated judicial resistance in the Comey matter by expressing frustration with prosecutors and ordering the Justice Department to produce investigative records.
Read at Slate Magazine
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