I truly do not understand how people have forgotten that in a democracy, any powers you give yourself - any lines you cross or precedences you break - are tools

I truly do not understand how people have forgotten that in a democracy, any powers you give yourself - any lines you cross or precedences you break - are tools that your political enemies will use against you when they return to power, and in a democracy they will always return to power eventually. Both sides are guilty of the descent into political total war and but as citizens we need to reject this kind of behavior.