There’s something deeply unsettling about watching democracy crumble in real-time from across the Pacific. The recent ruling that Trump’s firing of FTC commissioner Rebecca Slaughter was unlawful should feel like a victory for the rule of law, but honestly, it feels more like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.

The judge’s decision is clear: Trump violated protections for independent agency officials, and Slaughter remains a “rightful member” of the FTC. It’s the kind of ruling that would have meant something in, say, 2015. But we’re living in a different world now, one where “lawful” and “unlawful” have become increasingly meaningless terms when applied to those in power.