For months liberals have been screaming at Merrick Garland to DO SOMETHING about Donald Trump.
For months liberals have been expressing disappointment with Joe Biden over a lack of action on his agenda.
Whether you’re of the left or the right, the democratic and societal norms that restrict action are frustrating. I’ve been unhappy about it too.
This week, the norms struck back. Garland approved the search at Mar-a-Lago and offered to justify it with court documents. Biden got at least part of his agenda passed.
It was a victory for the norms, for process, and right now the victory seems small. The continuing war in Ukraine, the growing destruction from climate change, the violence of zealotry leading to Salman Rushdie’s stabbing at Chautauqua (for god’s sake), it all seems like it’s too much.
There are times when you must go outside the norms to protect the norms. There are times when you send a missile into another country to kill a terrorist. There are times when you go to war to defend your existence.
But if you know what you’re going to war for, if you do all you can to limit the goals of that war to defense, then there’s hope. It’s the final war of “all against all” that must be avoided.
What protects us from that are norms.
The rule of law, enforced without fear or favor. The regular order, letting everyone be heard. A democracy demanding the consent of the governed, through free and regular elections. Diplomacy and diplomatic language.
This is what we’re fighting for today. Not a particular policy, not a particular man or party. We’re fighting to protect the norms that make civilization possible. The norms that have let us, in a single century, move into a world of central heat and air, of computers in every house and hand, of lives that routinely last twice what they once did.
As technology and history accelerate, the crisis only seems to grow worse. Once each threat eases, it seems to be followed immediately by a greater opposite threat. Supply chains broken! OK, they’re back, but inflation! OK, it’s easing, but recession! And that’s just the economy.
Real leadership isn’t charismatic. We usually attach charisma to politicians based on their results, and then only after the fact. The final judgment is always harsh on sheer charisma. JFK and Barack Obama look disappointing in retrospect.
It’s the day to day slog that matters, the refusal to abandon the norms. That’s a principal worth upholding. When times get tough it’s the hardest thing to do. That’s the lesson of our time and I hope we’re all learning it.
