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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsStop Talking about 'Norms' - By Josh Marshall
By Josh Marshall | May 23, 2018 5:09 pm
I just finished listening to a CNN segment where norms figured heavily in the discussion. It was a good segment. I clipped a couple snippets of video because they were so good. But we need to stop talking so much about norms. And its not just CNN. The term has come up a number of times in our editorial conversations at TPM just today. Ive talked about them. But we need to stop talking so much about norms. Because it doesnt capture what is happening or the situation were in. In every kind of communication, clarity is the most important thing. By talking so much about norms and the violation of norms were confusing the situation and even confusing ourselves.
Norms arent laws for a reason. They are like bumpers on the roads of our civic and political life which are there to keep people of basically good faith from crossing lines they shouldnt cross. They can also be warning posts so others can see when someone is either going down a bad path or needs to be brought back into line.
One reason that norms arent laws is that sometimes new or unique sets of facts create situations in which they do not or cannot or should not apply. But the problem with almost everything President Trump is doing today is not that hes violating norms. The problem is that he is abusing his presidential powers to cover up his crimes and his associates crimes. Full stop. Thats the problem. The norms are just the orange rubber cones he knocked over when he drove out of his lane and headed for the crowded sidewalk.
Ive noted something similar about the language of conflicts of interest. I have heard many people claim that that $500 million Chinese state loan to a Trump Organization partnership development in Indonesia is a conflict of interest. Whether or not you think that is the best example there are many others to choose from. Plug in whichever story you choose: Jared Kushner hitting up the Qataris for loans for his family business empire while supporting a blockade of their country or pressuring foreign government and political groups to use the Presidents DC hotel or a million other examples.
These are not conflicts of interest. A conflict of interest is a case in which the nature of a situation makes it impossible for a person to separate their personal interests from their public responsibilities (or to appear to do so). All previous Presidents put their private wealth into blind trusts. We assume they werent going to try to directly make money off the presidency. But they wanted to remove any question of it and avoid situations where there own financial interests would bump up against their public responsibilities. What were seeing now are not conflicts of interest. Theyre straight-up corruption. Its like norms. Defining conflicts of interest is meant to keep relatively honest people on the straight and narrow or create tripwires that allow others to see when people in power crossing the line. Nothing like that is happening here. We have an increasingly open effort to make vast sums of money with the presidency. Its happening in front of our eyes, albeit not quite as visibly as the coverup.
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https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/stop-talking-about-norms
ollie10
(2,091 posts)Trump's followers think it is a great idea to not follow "norms". So to say his behavior violates "norms" is a good thing, in their view.
Better to call a spade a spade. Trump is a liar and crooked....this is corruption plain and clear
kentuck
(111,095 posts)Sort of like calling a Banana Republic a "democracy"...
dalton99a
(81,488 posts)rainin
(3,011 posts)was just trying to sell books. (Even though he wrote his book long before his election and he never mentioned his book during his 2 terms.) But the right complained about its popularity and the residual income he earned, claiming he was getting rich off the presidency. How priorities have changed!!