I didn’t use the word “silenced” in the article. Not an accident. But any punishment the government doles out in response to political criticism is a free speech violation — not just the harshest punishments. As I wrote, Brennan will be fine. The bigger danger is the signal this sends to others, and the new baseline it creates for more egregious actions.

There’s no formal definition of Constitutional crisis. I’d mark it at a point where two parts of the government are in conflict and the Constitution does not provide a clear solution (or one of the parties is defying that clear solution without consequence). By that standard, we’re not there yet. But signs increasingly point in that direction.

If we do end up in a Constitutional crisis, I am, like you, worried about mass violence. Especially if the crisis goes poorly for Trump.