By nominating Gaetz, Trump tells would-be oligarch cronies that—if they defer to his rule and don’t resist him—they can break civil and criminal law without consequence. Wannabe-oligarchs know that being free to flout the law and having inside advantages with regulators are decisive competitive advantages.
By nominating Gaetz, Trump tells would-be oligarch cronies that—if they defer to his rule and don’t resist him—they can break civil and criminal law without consequence. Wannabe-oligarchs know that being free to flout the law and having inside advantages with regulators are decisive competitive advantages.
Democrats worry that Trump will undermine the rule of law by directing the DOJ to exact revenge against political opponents. But Trump’s DOJ under Gaetz can destroy the rule of law more effectively by NOT prosecuting guilty cronies than by maliciously prosecuting innocent opponents.
By giving wannabe-oligarchs regulatory dispensations and de facto legal immunity—if they back him—Trump can make himself the arbiter of their success, and thereby secure their assistance, influence, and money for his project to degrade our polity into a Putin-style nationalistic, crony-capitalistic thugocracy.
By nominating Gaetz, Trump tells would-be oligarch cronies that—if they defer to his rule and don’t resist him—they can break civil and criminal law without consequence. Wannabe-oligarchs know that being free to flout the law and having inside advantages with regulators are decisive competitive advantages.
Democrats worry that Trump will undermine the rule of law by directing the DOJ to exact revenge against political opponents. But Trump’s DOJ under Gaetz can destroy the rule of law more effectively by NOT prosecuting guilty cronies than by maliciously prosecuting innocent opponents.
By giving wannabe-oligarchs regulatory dispensations and de facto legal immunity—if they back him—Trump can make himself the arbiter of their success, and thereby secure their assistance, influence, and money for his project to degrade our polity into a Putin-style nationalistic, crony-capitalistic thugocracy.