It looks like Donald Trump is going to be arrested for having paid hush money to Stormy Daniels during the 2016 campaign. Trump’s detractors—and there are many—are salivating at the prospect of his being fingerprinted and mug shot.

But there’s something considerably more important at stake here. The United States has never behaved like a banana republic, where the opposing party rushes to prosecute former leaders the minute it gains power. But with the Mar-a-Lago raid and these charges—which even some left-leaning legal analysts call trivial—that tradition’s evaporating.

This kind of foolish political gamesmanship erodes our standing in the eyes of our adversaries and allies alike. America comes off as weak, hyper-partisan, and obsessed with petty political vendettas. Not the profile of a world leader.

Great powers remain great powers only as long as they command respect by behaving like great powers. That’s something Democrats should bear in mind.