Asked recently by the New York Times whether there are any limits on his power, President Donald Trump responded, “Yeah, there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.” These words from a president should concern all Americans but especially conservatives.
Conservatism was never meant to be a celebration of personalities. It is a commitment to institutions, to restraint, to the slowly learned lessons of history. The system the Founders designed reflects that wisdom. James Madison reminded us that “if men were angels, no government would be necessary.” The problem with government is not that it is evil but that it is powerful. Thus the Constitution was not built for perfect leaders. It was built for ones who are human.
The conservative response to Trump should be firm: No person stands above the system, and no conscience substitutes for the law.
Robert K. Finnell, Rome, Georgia
In his Jan. 13 op-ed, “Democrats, we’re getting deranged about Venezuela,” David Brock swept aside “the constitutional issue” with kidnapping Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro because “we’re dealing with the real world here.”
Brock deemed Maduro a “foreign criminal” without a trial, echoing the Queen of Hearts: “Sentence first — verdict afterwards.” Brock went along with the canard that President Donald Trump targeted Maduro to deter or dent drug trafficking, because “the United States is allowed to defend itself.” Never mind that prosecuting Maduro will not diminish the demand-driven drug trade any more than did the prosecution and imprisonment of Panama’s military leader Manuel Antonio Noriega decades ago.
Brock defended President Barack Obama’s unconstitutional bombing of Libya, featuring Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s infamous “We came, we saw, he died” after Moammar Gaddafi was killed. Libya today is a wilderness where warlords and human trafficking flourish.
Brock mocked procedural safeguards against injustice as foolish handcuffs on law enforcement, neglecting that the history of liberty has largely been a history of procedural protections against government abuses.
Brock needs education in the obvious, as imparted by this exchange in Robert Bolt’s “A Man for All Seasons”:
William Roper: “Now you’d give the Devil the benefit of law!”
Sir Thomas More: “Yes. What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil? … And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? … Yes, I’d give the Devil the benefit of law, for my own safety’s sake.”
Bruce Fein, Washington
The writer was associate deputy attorney general under President Ronald Reagan.
A very, very poor comment
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-New York) recently said he was “very, very disappointed” with the Trump administration’s response to his questions about potential military operations in Colombia and Cuba. Now the world knows that Schumer very, very much means business and will do his very, very best to rein in America’s authoritarian leaders.
I’m very, very disappointed when my carrier throws my morning newspaper into the bushes, or when I have a shortage of raisins in my box of Raisin Bran. We need a Democratic leader furiously demanding accountability and respect for constitutional and international law. The best that Schumer can do is express disappointment squared. Change course, Democrats, or our country will be in a very, very big heap of trouble.
Vin Morabito, Scranton, Pennsylvania
The price of happiness
Regarding Michael J. Coren’s Jan. 11 Climate Coach column, “Why smaller houses can lead to happier lives” [Business]:
What Coren explains so well about happiness and home size is not so simple for happiness and wealth. There is a definite correlation between wealth and happiness, since financial well-being helps a person avoid many types of hardship. Correlation persists up to and even past incomes of $500,000, but the effect is slight. The ultrarich are only modestly happier than those in the middle class.
Those who put a high priority on achieving wealth often pay a price in the form of less fulfilling family relationships, friendships and work. There are also many for whom increased wealth brings no benefit. The wealthy person who is unhappy is very unlikely to become happy by achieving even greater wealth. Increased satisfaction based upon wealth is not dollar for dollar. To get the bump in happiness that results from tripling income from $20,000 to $60,000 per year, it would require tripling again from $60,000 to $180,000. And no amount of money will transform an unhappy marriage into a happy one.
Gary M. Stewart, Laguna Beach, California
Following Sarah Fletcher’s Jan. 4 Sunday Opinion essay, “The magic has gone out of flirting. Maybe this infamous book had a point.,” Post Opinions wants to know: What should flirting look like in 2026? Send us your response, and it might be published as a letter to the editor. wapo.st/flirting
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