People significantly underestimate the degree to which the American constitution is now being defined by Nixon/Reagan/Bush government lawyers who disliked having to be responsive to a Democratic-controlled Congress.
Unitary executive theory is an example:
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....
Roberts, Alito and Thomas all cut their teeth in a Reagan administration eager to expand the outer limits of executive power. Kavanaugh did the same under George W. Bush who tried to make the unitary executive a reality.
In 75 years, we went from a nation that championed the prosecution of Nazis at Nuremberg, where "just following orders" was rejected as a defense for war crimes, to a country where crimes by the President are "official acts," and therefore fine and dandy.
SCOUTS to US: Fascism is fine when we do it
There's an irony about the mute uproar over Trump's Liz Cheney/military tribunals Retruth, when her father spent decades trying to make unitary executive happen. #SinsOfTheFather
It seems like there is broad awareness of the decision redefining the constitution and relationship of the president to the people, but seeing this line of influence, the long arc of focus and vengeance by the powerful, is so important since this is about far more than Trump.
