The president routinely assaults the institutions of democracy in broad daylight. He does it brashly and publicly, because he knows there will be no functional resistance from the Republican majorities who control Congress. These are simple facts, and it's hard to deny any longer that we've grown accustomed to this state of affairs. A week does not go by in this country without Donald Trump, American president, launching an attack on the free press, or the rule of law, or the independent system of justice that separates the United States and other liberal democracies from authoritarian states.

That continued this Labor Day:

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Two long running, Obama era, investigations of two very popular Republican Congressmen were brought to a well publicized charge, just ahead of the Mid-Terms, by the Jeff Sessions Justice Department. Two easy wins now in doubt because there is not enough time. Good job Jeff...... — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 3, 2018

This had all the hallmarks of a Presidential Episode, as Trump tore at the threads of the American democratic fabric in an eruption of frustrated ego. First of all, it's at least partly false: Congressman Chris Collins' insider trading charges stem from a 2017 incident at a Trump White House event—not the "Obama era." Nevertheless, Trump suggested that investigations into Republican Congressmen Collins and Duncan Hunter—which uncovered mountains of evidence backing their indictments—were begun under the Obama administration. The implication is that they were by definition politically motivated, because the American president earnestly believes the Department of Justice is a tool of whomever occupies the White House. Trump just thinks the tool is malfunctioning for him.

Trump with Chris Collins Pool Getty Images

To further that point, the president suggested current Attorney General Jeff Sessions—a staunchly conservative Republican he appointed—ought to have dropped the investigations, or declined to press charges, because the subjects are Republicans running for reelection. (They also happen to be his two earliest congressional supporters during the 2016 campaign. The third was Jeff Sessions.) It doesn't matter how much evidence the government has obtained that Collins allegedly participated in insider trading, or that Hunter allegedly misused campaign funds. The President of the United States believes there should be a separate system of justice for his political allies, one which would leave them immune to prosecution if it would cause him political problems.

Already, New Yorker writer and CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin has suggested this tweet alone is an impeachable offense. But why should this episode of Adventures in American Authoritarianism end any differently? Trump-shy Republican types like Senator Ben Sasse are announcing their displeasure in classic fashion: with measured criticism, a couple of buzzwords, and full knowledge that their statements won't do a damn thing beyond scoring them a footnote in the history books, assuming we get that far.

Duncan Hunter on his way to an arraignment hearing Sandy Huffaker Getty Images

In a sadly welcome relief, Trump was not throwing his weight around on an investigation into himself and his associates here. That, too, is routine now, as Trump has repeatedly trashed Sessions in public for failing to protect him from the Russia probe. The president is under the earnest impression that the attorney general is his personal attorney, and, according to The New York Times' Maggie Haberman, that he should protect him like his predecessor, Barack Obama, was protected by then-Attorney General Eric Holder. There's no evidence that happened, but the most obvious explanation is that the president has Fox News poisoning.

There's plenty to say about Jeff Sessions' record, but his apparent resistance so far to the president's attempts to tamper with the Justice Department is admirable. Trump has badgered him to wage political investigations, leaned on him to protect Trumpists from the Russia probe, and bullied him to resign. There's no sign any of that will stop anytime soon, as the consummate invertebrates in the Republican congressional majorities demonstrate they're more than willing to be remembered as apparatchiks in the decimation of the American republic if it means getting reelected. If we avoid sliding into the "banana republic" Ben Sasse warned about in his statement Tuesday, it won't be because of anything he or his Republican colleagues in Congress did. Put that in your Britannica entry.

Jack Holmes Politics Editor Jack Holmes is the Politics Editor at Esquire, where he writes daily and edits the Politics Blog with Charles P Pierce.

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