"Then Frum speaks with his Atlantic colleague Tom Nichols, an expert on civil-military relations and a longtime scholar of U.S. defense policy, about President Donald Trump's efforts to turn the military into a personal instrument of power. Nichols explains how the capture of the Justice Department, the firing of Pentagon lawyers, and the use of the National Guard against civilians are eroding the rule of law, and how a president can launch wars without congressional consent."
"My guest this week will be my Atlantic colleague Tom Nichols, and we'll be discussing civil-military relations in the United States as troops march in American cities and as the United States appears to be sliding toward a unilateral, unapproved-by-Congress war in the Caribbean. My book this week will not be a book at all; it will be a play, Rhinoceros, by Eugène Ionesco. Please stay to the end to hear a discussion of that play."
The new administration exhibits 'politicized stupidity' and a willful refusal to acknowledge abuses of power. Specific abuses include the destruction of the White House East Wing and perceived sale of government influence disguised as private donations. Capture of the Justice Department, dismissal of Pentagon lawyers, and deployment of the National Guard against civilians are eroding the rule of law. The executive branch is creating pathways for a president to wage wars without congressional consent. Eugène Ionesco's play Rhinoceros serves as a parable about conformity, courage, and what it means to remain human amid mass moral collapse.
Read at The Atlantic
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