John Michael Luttig served 15 years as a U.S. Court of Appeals judge after appointment by Republican President George H.W. Bush. This came after Luttig worked in the Reagan administration and then for Antonin Scalia, who later became the most outspoken Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court’s powerful right-wing. Luttig has unquestioned conservative credentials.
Former judge Luttig wrote in Monday’s New York Times about Donald Trump’s “stunning frontal assault” on the rule of law. The retired judge says the casualty “could well be the constitutional democracy Americans fought for” 250 years ago.
It’s no secret that [Trump] reserves special fury for the justice system because it oversaw his entirely legitimate prosecution for what the government charged were the crimes of attempting to overturn the 2020 presidential election and purloining classified documents from the White House, secreting them at Mar-a-Lago and obstructing the government’s efforts to reclaim them.
…The bill of particulars against Mr. Trump is long and foreboding. For years Mr. Trump has viciously attacked judges and threatened their safety. Recently he called for the impeachment of a federal judge who has ruled against his administration.
He has issued patently unconstitutional orders targeting law firms and lawyers who represent clients he views as enemies. He has vowed to weaponize the Department of Justice against his political opponents. He has blithely ignored judicial orders that he is bound by the Constitution to follow and enforce.
As Thomas Paine wrote in “Common Sense” in 1776, “in America the law is king. For as in absolute governments the king is law, so in free countries the law ought to be king; and there ought to be no other.”
in-sights.ca 
The current President of The United States of America undeniably exhibits on a daily basis every single symptom listed by the Mayo Clinic here:
“Symptoms of narcissistic personality disorder and how severe they are can vary. People with the disorder can:
* Have an unreasonably high sense of self-importance and require constant, excessive admiration.
* Feel that they deserve privileges and special treatment.
* Expect to be recognized as superior even without achievements.
* Make achievements and talents seem bigger than they are.
* Be preoccupied with fantasies about success, power, brilliance, beauty or the perfect mate.
* Believe they are superior to others and can only spend time with or be understood by equally special people.
* Be critical of and look down on people they feel are not important.
* Expect special favors and expect other people to do what they want without questioning them.
* Take advantage of others to get what they want.
* Have an inability or unwillingness to recognize the needs and feelings of others.
* Be envious of others and believe others envy them.
* Behave in an arrogant way, brag a lot and come across as conceited.
* Insist on having the best of everything — for instance, the best car or office.
At the same time, people with narcissistic personality disorder have trouble handling anything they view as criticism. They can:
* Become impatient or angry when they don’t receive special recognition or treatment.
* Have major problems interacting with others and easily feel slighted.
* React with rage or contempt and try to belittle other people to make themselves appear superior.
* Have difficulty managing their emotions and behavior.
* Experience major problems dealing with stress and adapting to change.
* Withdraw from or avoid situation in which they might fail.
* Feel depressed and moody because they fall short of perfection.
* Have secret feelings of insecurity, shame, humiliation and fear of being exposed as a failure.”
It seems to me that a person with these symptoms would have serious difficulties with being reined in to established law or any other established norm by anyone, including members of the judiciary. His predictable reactions to any such attempts render him unfit for such (or any) high office because of the immense power he holds and the potential for harm to humanity he represents.
Yet there he is.
LikeLiked by 1 person
If sufficiently ancient you might remember business magazines from 50 – 60 years ago. You may also recall the way business leaders, politicians, scientists and so on, were photographed. In darkened rooms, drained of colour, tight face closeups.
Glowering.
Just like D Trump’s “I Am The Great Terror You Fear” image decades later..
Why such an odd approach? Business is War without guns.
True leaders must be depicted as tough. Unrelenting patriots to The Corporate Mission. They must take no prisoners. Be hard nosed. Never back down or make compromises.
They are not Captains of Industry. They are Generals of Industry!
By their nature such heroes dedicate themselves to cut dead wood, trim the fat, brook no resistance, only accept total surrender. And? Stack The Board with friends and relatives
To no one’s later surprise this trend continued unnoticed until panicked business leaders began to consult psychologists (and even psychiatrists!) about an unexpected downside when hiring top flight executives… at the top were people who unbeknownst to business mag photographers qualified as high-functioning Psychopaths.
Much later Dr. Robert Hare later described these troublesome folks as “Without Conscience” and “Sharks In Suits”.. But even now executive are not required to pass The Psychopathy Check List he designed to identify dangerous prisoners.
Before Dr Hare, no sooner did these The New Breed Business Warriors claw their way to the top, than they shed potential rivals regardless of their talents, tried to intimidate the company’s client and supplier base, treated payable obligations with the disdain of horse thieves, and why not – with no one to hold them in check – they would loot the company into bankruptcy then retire to luxury.
Who predicted what he saw as a return to Fascism? Who realized this was very bad for Business? Marshall McLuhan. Not in public, but instead in a biography after his death.
And here we are!
Again.
LikeLiked by 1 person