You make an important distinction between Law, Norm and Tradition, which I think needs attention beyond the question of candidates' respect for any of the three variations of societal constraints. As we discovered when NATO commitments were called into question, a president can destroy important trust by ignoring any one of the three guardrails of our governance practices. In my opinion, Norms and Traditions are rather loose constraints that should be depended on as little possible if Rule of Law is to be meaningful and trusted. Along a similar vein, two abuses that undermine Rule-of-Law are 'Plea Bargaining' (by which people often admit to infractions they did not commit in order to avoid long and expensive judicial process) and prosecution strategy of 'throwing charges at the wall with the hope that some will stick.' This latter approach is what has enabled The former President to delay the process and confuse the public. Our legal system, and the educators who sustain its flaws along with its virtues, are in sad need of rethinking their discipline. While I am suggesting topics for future examination, let me throw in the dangerous tradition and US law precedents that have established Corporation equivalence to a human, including such decisions as Citizens United and Buckley v. Valeo (the case that establishes that independent spending is constitutionally protected; Citizens United extended that protection to corporations and unions).
You make an important distinction between Law, Norm and Tradition, which I think needs attention beyond the question of candidates' respect for any of the three variations of societal constraints. As we discovered when NATO commitments were called into question, a president can destroy important trust by ignoring any one of the three guardrails of our governance practices. In my opinion, Norms and Traditions are rather loose constraints that should be depended on as little possible if Rule of Law is to be meaningful and trusted. Along a similar vein, two abuses that undermine Rule-of-Law are 'Plea Bargaining' (by which people often admit to infractions they did not commit in order to avoid long and expensive judicial process) and prosecution strategy of 'throwing charges at the wall with the hope that some will stick.' This latter approach is what has enabled The former President to delay the process and confuse the public. Our legal system, and the educators who sustain its flaws along with its virtues, are in sad need of rethinking their discipline. While I am suggesting topics for future examination, let me throw in the dangerous tradition and US law precedents that have established Corporation equivalence to a human, including such decisions as Citizens United and Buckley v. Valeo (the case that establishes that independent spending is constitutionally protected; Citizens United extended that protection to corporations and unions).