"The problem is that the Constitution is only a piece of paper: it has no power of its own to preserve, protect, and defend itself. The formal guardrails only hold if people believe in them. As the Founders well understood, the self-government of a free people requires the self-control of free individuals. When that self-restraint erodes, when the rules of civility no longer govern civil society, the erosion of constitutional norms is the inevitable next step- and there is no reason to expect that an unscrupulous elected official will feel bound by them, either. When we excuse small acts of assholery in everyday shared spaces, we pave the way for much graver acts at higher levels of public life."
"When we excuse small acts of assholery in everyday shared spaces, we pave the way for much graver acts at higher levels of public life." - @puzycki.bsky.social
open.substack.com/pub/cityofye...
