HOW OUR PERMANENT CAMPAIGN IS HELPING A LAWLESS PRESIDENT

Elie Mystal believes that President Trump is getting away with extraordinary violations of laws, rules, and norms in part because the justice system isn't prepared to deal with someone like him: Robert Mueller files a report that he expects Trump's attorney general will deal with in good faith, courts allow Trump to buy time by not hearing cases involving him on an expedited basis, and so on.

Mystal also blames us:

... I fear that we, the people of the United States, are the ultimate problem.

What do we do that suggests we are facing a unique threat to democracy and the rule of law? Bitch and moan on Twitter? Write columns? Donate money? Vote? That’s what I do, and it’s all kind of normal, isn’t it? I said to my wife, on Election Night 2016: “If I make it through four years of this mother[jumper] without getting arrested, I didn’t try hard enough.” Well it’s been three, and here I still sit behind this useless keyboard, without being so much as fingerprinted.

Everybody wants to see the “un-redacted” Mueller report, but nobody is outside of Bill Barr’s house right now demanding that he release it. Chief Justice John Roberts could be sitting right next to you as you read this, and most of you wouldn’t notice him, and those that do wouldn’t scream “I can’t believe you voted for the Muslim ban, you accomplice to bigotry” right in his face. The “resistance” should be near revolt, but instead we’re dithering about whether the normal process of impeachment is “worth it.”

The courts will regard Trump as a unique threat to the normal operation of government just as soon as we make the normal operation of government impossible while he reigns.

One reason for this is our near-permanent campaign season. Americans were out in force protesting Trump in the first few months of his presidency. Eventually, however, much of that energy was transferred to midterm elections. Then as soon as the midterms were over, many Democrats began declaring themselves presidential candidates. One election season flowed seamlessly into another.

No wonder there are no protests demanding impeachment, the release of the unredacted Mueller report, or Trump's tax returns -- and for that matter, no wonder there aren't protests supporting abortion rights, even though they're more at risk than at any time since the Roe v. Wade decision, as red states take advantage of Trump's appointment of two Supreme Court justices.

We keep falling for the lie that we'll have a presidential election "soon." The election is a year and a half away. Remember how much damage Trump did between January 20, 2017, and the middle of 2018 -- his first year and a half?

Trump is very good at leveraging his MAGA rallies -- and the mainstream media's inclination to treat heartland white working-class voters as our most representative citizens -- to create the impression that America is on his side. We've become a silent majority. A little noise would be helpful.