Law, politics, and culture

Scott makes an important point about the ultimate futility of formal legal rules, when discussing Trump’s completely open willingness to use the pardon power to enable his essentially bottomless personal corruption, and that of his administration more generally. He sums this up by noting that the most important check on Trump is always going to be political rather than legal, and the depravity, recklessness, and stupidity of so many voters in 2024 is primarily responsible for the current catastrophe.

Yet while it is very true that formal legal processes are useless in the face of open brazen lawless corruption, and recognizing this is an important defense against Elite Lawyer Brain and associated maladies, an even more important check on something like the decadence and depravity of Trump and Trumpism are fundamental cultural norms and understandings, some so embedded that they’re not even consciously held by those who adhere to them, that open brazen lawless corruption is beyond the pale. I used to live in a country where that was largely true, subject of course to certain notable exceptions. Now I don’t. And that is the single biggest difference between now and the Before Time.