This is like that moment, five years ago, when we realized that Covid was going to kill a lot of us but it hadn't happened yet. A lot of people weren't yet aware. My friendJohn Palfrey, who is a legal scholar, has been writing about this moment on LinkedIn and Facebook. Things are flashing by very quickly, so I'm going to publish his latest piece here, below, so it gets a chance to get to the places I'm hooked into.#
Lawyer friends and non-lawyer friends: has it become hard to say out loud in public: "we believe in the rule of law in America"? That seems not remotely controversial as a concept. The relative quiet on this topic is what is striking me most at the moment.#
It would be a good idea for our Republic to avoid sleepwalking through a Constitutional crisis. Of course there are extremely talented lawyers working overtime on many fronts. Those who are not directly involved in litigation have other tools, including voice and funding and organizing, to make plain the simple truth that we should not let the rule of law slip away in America bit by bit. That will continue to happen if the rulings of federal judges can simply be ignored or sidestepped with impunity.#
If the legislature has abdicated its role in checking the power of the executive, and then the judicial branch is also out, well, that leaves just one. This is not "fancy law stuff". This is "4th grade civics stuff" -- separation of powers, checks and balances (I know, I know, we don't teach civics enough in America...).#
It is actually *not* more complicated than that. It can't be that hard to say out loud: "we value the rule of law in America" -- no matter your politics or party.#
You know those obnoxious sites that pop up dialogs when they think you're about to leave, asking you to subscribe to their email newsletter? Well that won't do for Scripting News readers who are a discerning lot, very loyal, but that wouldn't last long if I did rude stuff like that. So here I am at the bottom of the page quietly encouraging you to sign up for the nightly email. It's got everything from the previous day on Scripting, plus the contents of the linkblog and who knows what else we'll get in there. People really love it. I wish I had done it sooner. And every email has an unsub link so if you want to get out, you can, easily -- no questions asked, and no follow-ups. Go ahead and do it, you won't be sorry! :-)
