As the presidency assumes ever more power, it becomes less and less accountable and more and more tyrannical. These days, when we say “the federal government,” what we really mean is the presidency. When we say “national priorities,” we really mean what the presidency wants. When we say “national culture,” we mean what the presidency funds and imposes.

But this tactic doesn’t work like it once did. Americans took from Watergate the lesson that presidents will lie to you. Few voters now expect honesty, integrity, or even decency from their presidents. Many vote simply in the hope that their favored candidate will be less awful than the other one. Most know that under our current regime of untrammeled executive power, we can’t expect any better.