“Mr. Trump, we are reminded every day in ways we would not have imagined the day before, speaks and acts in the interests of himself and no one else,” writes the New York Times editorial board in a searing editorial which takes the pardon of Joe Arpaio as its centerpiece.
Writes the NYT:
To most people with any awareness of Arizona politics, Mr. Arpaio is an abomination to the rule of law, the principle of equal justice and plain decency…
…Yet to President Trump, Mr. Arpaio is a role model: a man for whom the “rule of law” means that he can do what he wants when he wants, who humiliates those weaker than him and mocks those who try to constrain him, who evades scrutiny and accountability — in short, a perfect little tyrant.
The president can pardon virtually anyone he wants, which makes it more telling that he chose to wield the power for the first time in favor of Mr. Arpaio, an officer of the law who defied a court order. It shows not only contempt for the judiciary's sole means of enforcing the law, but suggests that Mr. Trump may be just as eager to pardon friends, family and allies caught up in the Russia investigation.
The editorial board goes through a laundry list of Trump offenses, concluding:
But this is Donald Trump's rule of law — a display of personal dominance disconnected from concerns about law and order, equality or the Constitution. That distorted understanding of justice is cleaving the nation between the majority who support the principles of American democracy and those who support only him.
