The anarchic administration

About two weeks ago, I read Regime Change, the account by Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swann of Trump's first year in office. I did not take any notes, and my brain, as usual, has far too many demands upon it, and I don't think I can write a review that would do it justice now. I can however draw on the general impressions that it left me with that shed a lot of light on the horrible flaw at the heart of the Trump administration, one that will keep it from doing almost anything effectively for the next two years plus.Our whole system of government is based upon respect for certain impartial principles embodied in our constitution and our laws. They were stated very clearly in those documents. They include the distribution of power among three different branches of government, the explicit affirmation of certain rights enjoyed by the people, and the limitations on the authority of prosecutors and police. The constitution didn't lay out corresponding principles for international…