#autocracy

#autocracy

When a president says his authority is limited only by his own morality, the Constitution has already been violated. The oath of office binds the president to law, not conscience, not instinct, not personal judgment. Claiming otherwise is a declaration that constitutional limits are optional. This is not rhetoric. It is an imminent danger. A president who believes only he restrains himself is asserting personal sovereignty. That is the definition of autocracy.

The cult of personality was apparent as Donald Trump's cabinet convened on Wednesday in a marathon session that could have embarrassed even a seasoned strongman, providing for three hours and 17 minutes of fawning television coverage. There was Steve Witkoff, the president's top envoy and negotiator, standing up in the increasingly gilded Cabinet Room, offering praise that could have made even Vladimir Putin blush.

If you follow regularly what is said by those who are in charge of the federal government right now, there is a weak commitment to what we understood...how a liberal democracy is supposed to work.

Donald Trump's military parade this weekend will bring thousands of troops out to march, while dozens of tanks and armored personnel carriers roll down the streets and fighter jets hum overhead.

The United States often allies with unsavory foreign regimes for strategic reasons, but must weigh the value of such partnerships against the behavior of those regimes.