India, July 12 -- The U.S. Constitutional system of checks and balances may yet operate to constrain the excesses of Trump and his allies, but significant damage has already been done.

Fifty years ago, I was a member of the oldest legislative body in the New World-the Virginia House of Delegates, the direct successor to the Virginia House of Burgesses founded in 1619. We were assembled in the chambers of the old colonial capitol in Williamsburg, listening to a bicentennial address by President Gerald R. Ford.

There was optimism in the air. The United States had come through a crisis much like the one the country faces today. Then, a President of the United States had engaged in illegal conduct during Watergate. Now, a President has enga...