They always were part of the system. However the system did pretend to care about it Once Upon a Time. Trump is just brazen and in your face with it. And if you take offense somehow it’s all your fault somehow.
I mean, there were always people that would skirt the rules. But the “appearance” of respecting conflicts of interest is not an illusion, it substantively kept a huge amount of corruption from happening.
That’s because these are parasites who don’t like the light, and most would-be self-dealers stayed in the dark under their rocks since the possibility of being caught and ostracized, or being made the rare example of in court, was an effective deterrent.
Trump turned off the light, and it’s much, much worse.
I agree. My nitpick was with the headline framing the corruption as new and different. It’s much the same old corruption. Just now it’s flaunting itself, daring the law and any checks and balances to do their job. And when they inevitably fail, as they generally do. Instead of happening quietly in the background where most won’t notice. It absolutely will be on display, encouraging others to be similarly corrupt.
There absolutely is some value in appearances. The mistake was to rely on appearances instead of effective and meaningful punishment.
Oh, for sure. You said it. Yes, the way we’re losing democracy is that the institutions have been hollowed out over decades of complacency, and though a facade is better than nothing, now it crumbles at the slightest challenge.
I think there is a difference between murder being illegal and it happening anyway and doing it out in the open without consequences.
Oh absolutely. I never claimed otherwise. As you and I both stated. The brazenness and openness with which it was done is the only new thing.
