Johnson Fight like hell

摘要

JOHNSON'S FIRST column after the election of Donald Trump in 2016 looked at "speech acts", or what J.L. Austin, a philosopher, called "doing things with words". Part of a president's awesome power is that merely by opening his mouth he can set the official policy of the United States. Mr Trump, that column concluded, needed to learn to watch his words, given that they would soon constitute official acts. He did not. Now he has been impeached for an offence grounded in speech: incitement of insurrection. On January 6th he delivered a tirade near the White House protesting that November's election had been stolen from him. Soon the Capitol building at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, where legislators were certifying the vote, was ransacked by his audience. Five people died. Mr Trump's accusers say he incited the violence, his defenders that he merely gave a typically barnstorming speech, and was not responsible for the mob.