First of all, every country in the world does sordid and bloody things in foreign policy. That are so many sordid and bloody things happening in the world that doing sordid and bloody things is unavoidable. Civil wars -- even most international wars -- are not fought between good guys and bad guys. They are fought between bad guys and other bad guys. The most clear-cut ones are fought between bad guys and worse guys. No matter what side you take, you will have unsavory allies. And staying out means passively allowing the worst to happen.
It is also true that every country shows more concerns for its own citizens than for foreign nationals. And that the U.S. cannot possibly admit everyone who wants to come here. It is also true that most people assume that in a democratic country, and leader who harms fellow-citizens will be punished by losing the next election.
There is also the matter of upholding the rule of law. The law is not always clear. The executive has some, but not unlimited, discretion in interpretation and enforcement. Donald Trump's Muslim ban was vile. But it was not expressly illegal until the courts held that it was, and even then it was salvageable with some modification. A lot of his other actions to limit immigration are dubious at best and have been challenged in court. If a court holds any of these actions illegal and Trump persists, then his actions will be impeachable. The same goes for challenges to Obamacare. It is clearly legal to attempt to pass legislation repealing Obamacare. The penalty will be paid at the ballot box. (That is why the attempt ultimately failed). It is also legal to challenge legislation in court, even if the challenge is so weak as to be frivolous.
Challenging or stretching the law is one thing. Openly breaking it is another. Trump almost certainly committed an impeachable offense in telling border security officials to break the law (seizing property to build the wall, automatically denying all asylum requests without hearing) and promising a pardon if they are prosecuted. But it may be difficult to persuade the officials in question to testify against Trump, and any impeachment action will look like an attempt to criminalize policy differences.
And finally, how the elite treat each other has a tremendous impact on the general population.
To take an extreme example, a country in which deposed rulers are killed will give rules an incentive to hold onto power at all costs. It will lead the ruler to spend immense amounts on internal security at the expense of everything else. It will lead to civil war any time the leader sees his power as threatened.
A country that routinely exiles deposed rulers will create a strong incentive for leaders to loot the treasure and spend a lot of money on foreign real estate to prepare for a future exile.
To move into more realistic territory, a country in which elections are rigged to ensure that the same party always wins is bound to become corrupt and sclerotic, in the manner of Mexico in the heyday of the PRI. Parties that find themselves systematically shut out of power lose their respect for the democratic process become radicalized in dangerous ways.
A country that is able to subvert freedom of the press is one that destroys an important method for holding leaders accountable and allows corruption to flourish.
A country that makes economic success depend on political favor becomes systematically corrupt -- crony capitalism. A leader who treats his office as an opportunity to make money is one who has no regard for the public good.
All of these lead to serious problems. But, it would appear, these problems do not arise overnight. I feared the results of a Trump presidency, but there is simply no denying that nothing disastrous has happened, at least not to U.S. citizens. But the integrity of our governing institutions is being undermined, and sooner or later, things will start going down hill for the rest of us.
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