The Situation: I’m Thankful For, Presidential Power Edition

The Situation on Monday contemplated the end of accountability for Jan. 6. 

Today, let’s be grateful. 

Last night, on my personal website, I penned a faintly sardonic list of things for which I am thankful—the joke being that it’s meant to be hard to tell which are serious and which are in jest. (The answer: All are at least a bit of both.)

But let’s do the exercise in total earnest. In tough political moments, when many people legitimately fear for the longevity and security of American democracy, it’s easy to forget the things this country has going for it in the democracy protection space. None of what follows is the thing that’s going to “save us.” (There is no thing that’s going to save us.) None of the items that follow is a perfect instrument. Indeed, some of them have, to one degree or another, proven disappointing over the past several years.

That said, all are genuine parts of a fabric of legal, democratic, and civic life that make me optimistic that America has the tools to pull through this period as a vibrant, pluralistic democratic republic. 

They are the things for which, their warts and all, I am unironically thankful: 

• Separation of Powers. Yeah, it’s not all one would hope for in an epoch in which party seems to matter more than institutional branch of government. But it’s the reason Matt Gaetz won’t be attorney general. And it’s the reason there’s still a chance that Tulsi Gabbard won’t be director of national intelligence. It’s the reason a thousand policy changes promised won’t materialize—though many others might. It’s the reason an American dictatorship does not begin on Jan. 20, not even for one day. And I’m grateful for it.

• Divided Sovereignty. Power in this country is not merely separated horizontally, between the branches, but vertically between state and federal authorities. Color me grateful that the federal government, however much power the presidency may control within it, only has a certain amount of power over people’s lives—and that state governments vary widely in their willingness to get in citizens’ faces over how they live their lives. 

• Constitutional Rights. And then there are the things that none of the governments that run things have power over. Americans have a robust right of free speech, including the right to criticize the president and his family and cronies. There are other First Amendment rights too. And while a malevolent president can try to deploy the Justice Department against critics, those targeted have the right to defend themselves. They have the right to indictment by grand jury and to trial by jury in which they can confront witnesses and have counsel of their choice. They have a right to due process. It’s not that easy to run a tyranny in a society that takes rights seriously. 

• A Free Press. America has one. It’s robust. It’s diverse. We all have our complaints about it. But let’s take a moment to admire it. It is a thing of beauty and it does matter. It’s why I can write this expression of gratitude without fear of government retribution. 

• Individual Oaths of Office. I am personally thankful that public servants swear individual oaths to preserve and protect the Constitution. I can’t tell you how many people have told me that at critical times in their public service, they thought of their oaths. Does everyone do so? Of course not. But is it a major psychological disciplinary mechanism that affects people’s behavior? Absolutely. 

• A Professional Civil Service. Relatedly, I am grateful that our government is composed of countless men and women hired for and trained to standards of non-political professionalism. 

• Independent Courts with a Genuine Diversity of Judges. Not a popular position these days, but I still believe in our federal court system. Sure, I dislike a bunch of recent Supreme Court decisions as much as the next guy. But we have a 900 person federal judiciary full of capable people of diverse views for whom the Supreme Court is a very distant absentee landlord. It’s a group of people who give meaningful scrutiny to government behavior and who show their work in doing so. I am sure I will disagree with a lot of court decisions over the next several years. I am equally sure I will be empowered and protected by others. And I am also sure the process of defending government policy before courts will make it less obnoxious in ways large and small. 

• The Fabric of Laws Those Courts Apply. America has a lot of laws. A lot of them restrain the government. Those laws are followed most of the time. And when there are questions about government fidelity to them, people can bring lawsuits. I am grateful for this.

• America’s Allies and Partners. I am thankful that America is situated within a network of alliances and partnerships that restrains its behavior in ways seen and unseen. Fragile? Sure. Under constant probing by hostile foreign actors? Yup. But a huge constraint on this country’s doing foolish things is the reciprocity in the international system from governments that have leverage. I’m glad, for example, that Mexico can decline to pay for the wall. And I’m glad that Canada and Mexico can respond to irrational imposition of tariffs.

• Civil Society. There are a lot of good people in this country who have formed groups to advocate for the things they believe in. The network and density of civil society constitutes infrastructure for all kinds of things: lobbying, street protests, support of those whom government may be wronging. I am deeply grateful to people who spend their time and energy and careers and money doing things they believe in—even when I think those things are wrongheaded. This mobilization of citizenry is one of this country’s strongest democratic foundations.

• Constitutional Inertia. It’s pretty hard to change the constitutional fabric of the United States. Not impossible. But hard. So while it’s easy to injure American democracy, it’s not easy to mortally wound it. It will take real work to prevent America from having a midterm election in two years and an open presidential election in four years. I’m not saying it can’t be done. But it can’t be done easily. And for such inertia I am grateful.

• Presidential Term Limits. One constitutional fact it would take work to undo is this one: “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of President more than once.”

Could all of this gratitude prove to be delusion on my part? Sure. I am not saying that American democracy is safe. I am saying that panic is unhelpful. The tools exist for this society to protect itself. I, for one, intend to use them—and to urge others to use them too. 

Happy Thanksgiving.

The Situation continues next week.