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In October 1798, John Adams wrote that the Constitution requires a moral people. A republic is a nation of laws, not a nation governed by one person. Adherence to those laws, without the constant threat of forceful compliance, requires the American people to buy into the system and work together to uphold the republic. The Jan. 6 hearings reveal this central, characteristic, and fatal flaw in the Constitution.
The last seven years have revealed just how much of our government is based on norms and customs. There are relatively few restrictions on the president’s behavior written in code or statute. The Constitution says even less. And yet there are things the president is not supposed to do.
The president is not supposed to shill for a certain brand of beans from behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office. The president is not supposed to host military parades for his own glorification. The president is not supposed to amplify white supremacist accounts online. And those are only the cringeworthy examples.