Scorched-Earth Politics

In his most recent podcast, the Zman did an analysis on Rome to make allusions to our current political environment. The first segment was in reference to Marius. Becoming consul - the highest position of the Roman Republic- required running a gauntlet of many decades of career development that served as something of an apprenticeship. The goal was to weed out the incompetent through intense competition, and to season the rest. Great restraints were put on the consuls once elected to prevent any of those highly competent leaders from exercising any dictatorial ambitions. Marius, however, was considered to be a particularly competent leader. As a result, the senate made an exception and allowed him to violate the term limits. A reasonable decision, perhaps, but it became the crack in the edifice that would eventually be weathered into a major schism. It was then that the Romans decided maybe it was okay to put faith in great men over great political organization.

He goes on to make a comparison to the modern times. Putting faith in great men like Marius didn't end up well for the Romans, nor will putting faith in a great man like Trump work out for us.

I struggle to find any way in which the analogy adds up. Certainly, many of us in Trump's base put faith in Trump over the political system. But we already distrusted our political system. Not much has changed there. Perhaps he meant Republicans as a whole, but that doesn't work either. The process in place before gave us the likes of Bush, McCain, and Romney. The whole point of Trump was that he did not come through the established political conduits. The rejection of the political system came before the adoption of the great man. It's even more stark when you consider the broader political establishment. They aren't making an exception for a great man. The reject him entirely, with tremendous passion.

The analogy is so wrong that it comes full circle and becomes correct again. Our elites are so opposed to Trump that they are breaking all their own rules to get rid of him. It's the opposite motivation, but the result is the same. The political establishment has decided that its own rules are optional. The Roman system consisted of a complex balance of powers within an aristocratic meritocracy. It was difficult to gain any power from outside the aristocracy, and even the insiders had to thoroughly prove their merit. America is also a complex balance of powers, but is nestled in a democracy. There is not, in theory, an established process for attaining high positions. Merit is determined by the vote of the people.

The Roman elites made an exception to their greatest ethos: restricting power given to a single man. Just forty years after Marius, Julius Caesar would cross the Rubicon. Today our elites are ignoring the great American ethos of democracy. The will of the people is not sacrosanct. Exceptions can be made. Electoral outcomes are optional.

Even more disturbing - for those of us who aren't particularly enamored with American-style democracy to begin with - is the nullification of rule of law. We watched in disbelief as the DOJ admitted Hillary Clinton had committed crimes as Secretary of State, but the only action of that venture was to grant immunity to her cohorts. Now we watch as Paul Manafort is subjected to solitary confinement for crimes committed alongside the Podestas, whom Mueller is trying to grant immunity. It's hard to believe they are being so blatant. The message is crystal clear. The US justice system is merely a political weapon. Rule of law is of much less concern to the American ruling class now than limited execute power was to the Roman senate in 89 BC. It won't take forty years to witness the consequences of all this.

The American political establishment is currently engaged in the process of destroying its own legitimacy. The whole American system is propped up by a general belief in rule of law and the sanctity of the electoral process. The Washington political machine has decided that both are optional...at their own peril. They despise the new roof of the building, so they attack the foundation, with dynamite. (The media are engaged in a similar process.)

Let's allow that the liberal media is correct, and Trump is a presidential abomination. If so, his lasting impact will be marginal. Look at how quickly Obama's legacy was reverted. However, this assault on America's core beliefs, by the very institutions that depend on them, inflicts a profound damage that may never be undone.