As if to make their cheerleaders choke on all their words, the new government of Hungary, led by Péter Magyar, used its constitution-shaping majority today to abolish the office of president, which just so happened to be occupied by a member of the former ruling party, now the opposition, Fidesz.

Various MEPs are demanding that the European Commission, which expressed itself so often on “the rule of law” when populists were lustrating the courts in Hungary or Poland, to express itself on this:

However, I should expect silence. Poland’s “Civic Platform” has implemented its “iron broom” and “militant democracy” to arrest and threaten populists who peacefully relinquished office. Brussels kept the money and approval flowing.