In his book “On Tyranny,” historian Timothy Snyder writes, summarizing the thinking of Nazi legal theorist Carl Schmitt:
“The way to destroy all the rules … was to focus on the idea of the exception. A Nazi leader outmaneuvers his opponents by manufacturing a general conviction that the present moment is exceptional, and then transforming that state of exception into a permanent emergency.”
Donald Trump's declaration of a nonexistent emergency is another step toward undermining the rule of law, a reader says. Washington Post photo by Jabin Botsford
The absence of a wall along the southern border is not a national emergency. There are far better ways than building a wall to address the immigration problem. If President Trump can declare an emergency when none exists, we are in big trouble. It is a step toward tyranny.
Brian Hodgkin
Gorham
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