here is my view of the meat:

“Trump, who evidently prefers “the rule of Trump” to the rule of law, has launched a two-pronged attack on these principles. The campaign against alleged drug smugglers is an example of the first tactic: declare a nonexistent emergency and invoke extraordinary authorities that would be unacceptable in ordinary times. Ordinarily, police can’t simply kill those they think might be distributing drugs; suspects must be arrested, tried and convicted, and even then they can only be sentenced to prison, not executed. (The death penalty is reserved for crimes involving homicide.) But by declaring that the metaphorical war on drugs is an actual “armed conflict”, and declaring that fishers carrying drugs are “narco-terrorists”, Trump has asserted the power to kill in cold blood – premeditated murder without trial.”

“The second prong of Trump’s strategy is to neutralize the opposition. The rule of law cannot rely on courts alone. It depends as well on citizens standing up and speaking out, through the institutions of civil society – from non-profit advocacy groups like the ACLU to universities, the media and the professions. Trump has systematically targeted them all. He’s issued orders penalizing law firms for filing lawsuits or hiring associates that he doesn’t like. He’s pressured universities to clamp down on students’ and professors’ speech. He’s penalized press outlets that don’t parrot his messages, as when he expelled the Associated Press from the Oval Office press pool for refusing to call the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America”, Trump’s preferred rebranding. And he’s threatened to designate non-profit groups and foundations as “domestic terrorists”.”

Good summary, though nothing new for anyone who has been reading non-MAGA news for the last year.

Worth reading, though, on the strength of the author’s credentials:

David Cole is the Honorable George J Mitchell professor in law and public policy at Georgetown University and former national legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union. This essay is adapted from his international rule of law lecture sponsored by the Bar Council.