His cynicism is matched by Obama's grotesque congratulations to the coup junta on its "remarkable restraint" after the Odessa massacre.
The rule of law, in its restraint on the exercise of governmental and judicial power, facilitates the aims of those with power of other kinds, particularly economic power.
For in its restraint on political and legal power, the rule of law implies that these public forms of power are the only forms of power that exist, or at least the only ones that matter.
Xinmin Weekly, a Shanghai-based magazine, published an article this week arguing that it was better to keep money in the hands of the public rather than hand it over to a government not subject to effective restraints on its spending, corruption or waste.
"The Fed seems to have thrown off all restraints on its behavior in just trying to get through the crisis and the aftermath of the crisis," Mr. Kane said.
The world's wealthy nations have given Iran until late September to accept restraints on its nuclear program or face consequences.
Google regards any regulatory restraints on its search technology as a threat to its freedom to innovate, potentially inhibiting its ability to expand its offerings and damaging its business.
That understanding has made clear what goes awry in cancer cells but also pointed to how hard it might be to take down a cell that has sabotaged all natural restraints on its growth.
Of the few restraints on its behavior, perhaps the most effective is a fear of incurring the government's wrath, which could ultimately lead to the firm being regulated like an old-economy utility.
"Without the antitrust case and the restraints on its behavior, Microsoft would have built search into the operating system and we might not have had Google," said Christine Varney, a lawyer who represented Netscape in Washington and is the former head of the antitrust division the Justice Department in the Obama administration.
