…The answer to why powerful people in some other parts of the world face consequences, while in the #US they rarely do, is that #elite #impunity is now an American national project. We might need to reframe “American exceptionalism.” Instead of a New Deal, we have a Great Society for #WhiteCollar #crime, a New Frontier of executive lawbreaking, a No Rich Crook Left Behind. Most of us probably don’t even realize it.
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Marcin Romanowski, the former deputy justice minister in the right-wing Polish government, is in hiding in Hungary, accused of misusing public funds. The former #PrinceAndrew — #AndrewMountbattenWindsor — became the first member of the British #royal family in several centuries to be arrested; he’s been accused of crimes related to his relationship with the late #SexTrafficking financier Jeffrey #Epstein.
They’re all unfortunate not to be “American”. Otherwise they probably would have gotten away scot-free.
One way to look at the rise of Donald #Trump is as part of a decades-long backlash among the American leadership class to the idea of #accountability. Since Richard #Nixon was forced to resign, powerful people in both political parties have worked assiduously to ensure that their leaders would escape the consequences of their actions.
#Trump has evaded punishment for #crimes both low (campaign-finance violations, for which he was #convicted, though he will serve no time thanks to his 2024 victory) & high (his attempted overthrow of the federal government in the aftermath of his #2020election loss, for which he was spared by #SCOTUS’ decision to grant him a kingly #immunity).
This is not just about #Trump; his #impunity is the product of a society that has worked hard to help the #rich & #powerful elude punishment for #criminal behavior.
Gerald #Ford pardoned his predecessor [ #Nixon] in the name of “healing,” but inadvertently set a precedent that executive lawbreaking was no #crime.
The #Reagan admin engaged in blatant violations of federal #law during the #IranContra scandal, in which it sold weapons to the #Iran regime & used the finances to support anti-communist death squads in #Nicaragua. George H. W. #Bush, the former head of the #CIA, pardoned nearly all of the officials implicated in Iran-Contra—a move that many Americans supported, because they believed that fighting communism justified extreme measures.
George W. #Bush’s admin broke laws fighting the “War on Terror” but almost no one faced consequences, because many Americans believed that fighting terrorism justified extreme measures.
Bill #Clinton lied under oath, was impeached, & then was acquitted—& many Americans supported that too, because they sympathized with lying about infidelity.
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