The oft-repeated assertion that no-one is above the law is, at best wishful thinking and, in fact, just plain wrong. The Constitution presumes the ordinary natural person to be moral and his behavior good. This principle of probity is the antecedent of “innocent until proven guilty.” And the guilt is associated not with a law, but with having caused an injury to someone else.

Apparently, a considerable part of the population was, from the very beginning, not in accord with the limited responsibilities outlined in the Constitution to protect public and private property and promote commerce as a source of revenue. So, in addition to the Constitutional directives governing agents of government, the U.S. evolved a web of customary law, case law and, state law and federal law in addition to the prescriptions of international treaties.

Still, the rule of law primarily binds government and all its officials, many of whom refute that position. In other words, we have a social segment which is determined to subordinate all of the people to the dicta of the officials.

It is generous to refer to them as authoritarians, a word that implies creativity and know-how to people who have proved incredibly ignorant.They “do not know what they do,” in the 21st century, as was the case in the first.

Why? One likely explanation is that those who do know get conned. Then too, the principle of probity may make us particularly susceptible to the sob story. Whining Donald Trump had a peculiar version. Even his niece’s explication of the narcissism prompted a level of commiseration. Now we have George Santos whose sob stories are more blatant.