I was a senior in high school in 1980-81 and I remember sitting through Government class, which was held in a trailer in the parking lot that year. We were either overcrowded, or there was construction happening. I don't think that anyone was really excited about government class, including me. I remember being taught that our country prided itself on the Rule of Law (RoL). 1980 was an election year, and in January 1981 we were reminded that that there would be an "orderly transition of power" when President Reagan replaced President Carter. This orderly transition of power, an aspect of the RoL, distinguished the United States from other countries. This was all painfully obvious to me and my classmates, and we weren't nearly as impressed by it as our teacher was.  

WHAT'S THE RULE OF LAW?

Dictionary.com: The principle that all people and institutions are subject to and accountable to law that is fairly applied and enforced; the principle of government by law.

In my government class, we learned that RoL was what kept the police, or government, from bursting into our homes and dragging us off to prison for no reason, as happens with regularity in some other countries. We learned that we all have rights that provide us with protection from our own government. We are presumed innocent of crimes until proven guilty, we have the right to be represented in a trial, we have the right to remain silent rather than incriminating ourselves, and many other rights. Once again, all of us brilliant H.S. seniors knew all of this, and it was a struggle to keep our eyes open. 

JANUARY 6, 2021

On that particular day, I had been home from the hospital (after my severe traumatic brain injury) for less than a month. I had been in a coma for 2 weeks, in ICU for 4 weeks, and in rehab for 10 days. On that point of my recovery, I was required, by my family, to tell everyone present where I was going if I intended to leave the room. If my destination was the bathroom, someone in the family might be waiting outside the door when I came out. Though I hadn't done anything dangerous or crazy since coming home, my family still had concerns about me and didn't trust me to be on my own, without supervision.

I was only vaguely aware of what was going on in Washington D.C. on that day. Perhaps my family kept me away from the TV. Perhaps I was more interested in cartoons. Regardless, we all now know that there was much unrest in our nation's capital including rioting, violence, shootings, and pandemonium. 
 

JANUARY 6 - RoL

Like almost all Americans, I found the January 6 situation to be concerning and shocking. Later, we learned that there was reason to believe that the outgoing President may have been involved in this incident. As a believer in RoL, because there seemed to be enough information to suspect President Trump's involvement, I was in agreement with an investigation. Furthermore, I agree that, if a fair study of the facts indicates wrongdoing, those guilty should face the consequences. Part of RoL is that no one is exempt from the law. 

CURRENT RULE OF LAW IN THE U.S.

We are all keenly aware that, if someone breaks into your house and steals your possessions, that person has broken a law and should face severe consequences. Similarly, we are all keenly aware of other serious criminal offenses such as robbing businesses, vandalizing property, arson, assaulting police, etc. We know that illegally crossing our national border is a crime.

However, especially during the year 2020, we saw many, many crimes committed without any intervention by police. We watched, live on TV, as hundreds of people broke down the glass doors of businesses, then carried all of the merchandise they could carry. This has become a monthly, or weekly, occurrence in our country. We watch videos of people setting fire to buildings and cars, without any police intervention. We watched as groups in Seattle burned a police station, burned police cars, and claimed ownership of a large part of the downtown. This siege ended on their own terms, without facing any consequences from the government. Our own government is collecting people that have illegally crossed out border, then taking them wherever they wish within the country. This happens hundreds or thousands of times every single day.

CONCLUSION

The conclusion is obvious - the United States can no longer claim to be subject to the Rule of Law. Clearly, we are not. It is more true to say that the Rule of Law is exercised on a discretionary basis in the United States by federal, state, and local government. If a well-established crime is committed against you, that crime may, or may not, be enforced at the discretion of a government authority. If not, that's just tough luck for you. 

Not too long ago, a person in the U.S. might have done some research on a foreign country before planning a visit. Our Department of State would generally have a list of countries that were considered unsafe for an American to visit. We're now on that list for all other countries.