American teleology, future (always) dystopia, madness

Guardian:

The lead prosecutor in the case, the House manager Adam Schiff, warned that the Republicans’ unified determination to protect Trump instead of collecting evidence was paving the way toward a presidency unbound by congressional oversight or any other checks and balances.

“What we have seen in the past few days is a descent into constitutional madness, because that way madness lies,” Schiff said, comparing the Republican position to Richard Nixon’s infamous defense of his conduct in the Watergate scandal: “When the president does it, that means that it is not illegal.”

“Watergate is now 40, 50 years behind us,” said Schiff. “Have we learned nothing in the last half-century? Have we learned nothing at all? We are right back to where we were a half-century ago, and we may even be in a worse place because this time that argument may succeed.

“That is the normalization of lawlessness.”