In the past half century the most reliable checks on presidential power have been a watchdog press and independent judiciary. In his first weeks in office, President Donald Trump has attacked the legitimacy of both institutions with a fusillade of insults, misstatements and lies - 133 lies and misstatements in the first 34 days and counting, according to the Washington Post.

Trump labeled judges who blocked his immigration travel ban a "so-called judge," "ridiculous," "disgraceful" and deserving "blame... if something happens." White House policy adviser Stephen Miller went so far as to say "the powers of the president to protect our country... will not be questioned."

Meanwhile, in a remarkable feat of jujutsu, Trump captured the term "fake news" and wielded it as a sword against legitimate news organizations. After having been accused of benefiting from fake news in the run-up to the 2016 election, Trump turned the tables and expropriated the slogan to attack news he doesn't like.

And it's becoming a popular propaganda technique world-wide. Vladimir Putin has claimed reports of Russian hacking in the 2016 U.S. election are fake news, even though they are substantiated by Western intelligence. And Syria's President Bashar Assad has claimed Amnesty International's reports of mass hangings are also "fake news."

Even as Trump branded legitimate news as fake, his White House issued press credentials to the likes of Gateway Pundit Jim Host, a St. Louisan who regularly reports false news and conspiracy theories.

Trump ended his first month in office calling the mainstream media the "enemies of the people"--by which he means his enemies.

The Supreme Court viewed the press' role in the opposite fashion in the 1971 Pentagon Papers case when it laid out the importance of the press as a check on presidential power in the nuclear age. In siding with the New York Times' publication of the secret history of the Vietnam War, the court said an enlightened citizenry is a important check on presidential power in foreign affairs and there couldn't be an enlightened citizenry without a press that is "alert, aware and free."

No president before Trump has so personally and quickly attacked the media or so rapidly created a credibility gap through false public statements. The closest historical analogy is President Richard M. Nixon with his enemies list, vice presidential attack dog and illegal taps of Washington reporters. Nixon's presidency didn't turn out well.

Meanwhile, the branch of government the Founding...