One can imagine a moral American president taking actions contrary to international norms if he saw that as essential for the security of this nation. But it would be with clear regret. This president showed -at best""indifference to the international order. And he has never even gone through the motions of trying to justify his actions by articulating a rule that he would recognize that other nations also have the right to follow.
One can imagine a moral American president taking on extraordinary powers in wartime, but not in so high-handed and presumptuous a manner as this president. When Lincoln suspended habeas corpus during the Civil War, for example, he went out of his way to follow Constitutional processes to legitimate his actions. Lincoln did not simply arrogate powers unto himself and wait for others to take him to court.
Those who love the good also love the rules and structures that protect the good from unprincipled power. For those who love only power, such restraints are merely obstacles to their self-aggrandizement.
In other words, in the amoral world these Athenians inhabited, "right" was never in question at all""only power. Other than in their being straightforward about what they're doing, these Athenians are like our current rulers. Having gained control of unequaled power, the people running this American regime gladly sweep away every structure erected to constrain power. By doing so, they create a world in which indeed the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must.
(Part II of this three-part series will be "When Loyalty is Not a Moral Virtue," and it will appear here tomorrow.)
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