Where Does Donald Trump's Strange (And Dangerous) 'Absolute Rights' Idea Come From?
By Jane Chong
February 29, 2020 at 07:00AM
via The Atlantic http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/theatlantic/TZRn/~3/7c3kVvJoIW0/
«Where Trump derived the idea that as president he enjoys absolute rights is unclear. But his chosen phraseology is sticky and evocative. It carries a quasi-juridical ring that belies its conceptual incoherence. Closely examined, his incessant invocation of the phrase evokes the image not of the leader of the free world, but of a freeholder enjoying untrammeled and indefinite possession of his estate. Constitutionally baseless but rhetorically compelling, the whole concept of "absolute rights" is best described as a legal innovation by a real-estate mogul who understands power through the prism of private property rather than public obligation.»