Why MAGA Enables Corruption

What happened in Texas as a warning

In college, I did a semester study abroad program in St Petersburg. The one in Russia, not Florida. When it came to safety advice, we were all told that the cops were bad news. They would sometimes try to get bribes to leave you alone on the subway. But, we were told, your American passport is basically a shield, and you should carry a photocopy of it wherever you go. Not the original, because they might actually take that. If you’re victimized by a crime, unless it’s very serious you probably don’t want to even get involved with the police because they will be more interested in what they can get out of you than solving it.

One thing Western societies are good at is not having this kind of corruption. People can differ in their politics, but practically no one wants a country where cops take bribes on the streets, leaders steal from the public treasury, or elected officials use their influence to punish political enemies.