As tempting as it is to hammer Mr. Trump for his epic hypocrisy, it is a mistake. In this view, crime is not defined by a specific offense. And this is what “law and order” means: the preservation of a certain social order, not the rule of law. The history of the United States is the story of a struggle between the desire to establish certain universal rights and the countervailing desire to preserve a particular social order. America can have that kind of social order, or it can have justice for all.

Source: New York Times March 17, 2018 18:30 UTC