no one should be above the law but some are. most of our congressmen would be in prison if laws were enforced.
The word “mafia” means in the original Sicilian dialect ‘safehouse’ I think. Many tight-knit groups like to call themselves a “mafia” now, so it’s lost some of its criminal original meaning. Then again, other ethnic crime groups beyond the cosa nostra use “mafia” also.
I think the real cognate today are Student Progressives on colleges who label whole sections of the campus as “safe spaces” where no dissent is allowed.
In theory, no one is above the law. But in practice, the ruling class almost never pays for their crimes, i.e. Ted Kennedy. Hell, not only do they not pay for them, others in the ruling class protect them and then promote them.
Lawrence Tribe was found out to have not written a book the he supposedly authored. Then it was further found out that the research assistant that wrote it for him plagiarized much of it. The dean of Harvard Law School had a mock investigation, cleared everyone involved, and then sealed the investigation so that no one would know what a sham it was.
That dean is Elena Kagan and Lawrence Tribe is now the dean of Harvard Law School.