Another day in autocracy.
The Leader reigns supreme. He governs not by law or established norms but by gut and feel. His instincts and intuitions go unchallenged. His ego and narcissism know no bounds. Those who dare to constrain him do so at their peril. Individuals and private companies have suffered his wrath; their reputations and fortunes decimated by the onslaught of his criticism.
He governs by fear and divisiveness. He lies with every breath. His inflammatory rhetoric emboldens his supporters and panics his enemies. Facts do not matter. The truth is what he says it is. He wears his racism, bigotry and misogyny on his sleeve.
He is relentless in his degradation of long standing institutions that curb his power. He attacks the credibility of the press who dare to report his misdeeds. He engages in personal, belittling diatribes against his antagonists; reducing the level of debate to little more than sophomoric name calling. “The system is broken.” He decries. “And only I can fix it.”
In the Leader’s world, the rule of law is a fluid proposition…due process an inconvenience.
The leader demands loyalty above all else. He surrounds himself with sycophants, quislings and toadies who cower in his presence while deifying his every move. In return he turns a blind eye to their greed, graft and corruption; but only so long as they blindly implement his wishes. He is quick to blame them for policy failures and easily discards them when they are no longer of any use. Those in position to check his worst inclinations remain meekly silent on the sidelines.
The leader brazenly uses his position and power for monetary gain. Pay-for-play the accepted practice. Quid-pro-quo the currency of choice. His word is not his bond. Agreements are easily discarded if they prove to be too cumbersome or fail to provide the desired one-sided result. He always wins…even when he doesn’t.
Nepotism is a matter of entitlement. The Leader places family members into positions of power for which their lack of experience is only exceeded by their unwillingness to learn. They follow his example to the letter; brazenly using their power and position for personal gain.
His supporters relish the chaos. Cult like zombies they ignore the cruelty , graft and corruption while celebrating the destruction of institutions they one held dear.
His policies reward the rich to the detriment of his supporters. Yet his cult applauds.
He trashes decades old alliances, pulls out of long standing agreements and cozies up to despots and dictators who curry favor by pampering his ego. His cult applauds..
He closes borders to people who don’t look like him…bans people that don’t worship like him…separates children from their parents and uses those children’s suffering as a political bargaining chip to get what he wants. The cruelly is palpable. His cult applauds.
Another day in autocracy.
Another day in America.
According to former Republican Strategist, Steve Schmidt: “Contrary to popular belief, a democracy is not built on free elections. A democracy is built on trust and the rule of law. Without them a democracy cannot stand.”
I believe that in our current political environment those two essential components are in serious jeopardy. I believe that what we are witnessing today in our country is an erosion in the trust of our elected government and an attack on the rule of law. A series of events being similarly played out in real time by autocrats and despots in Turkey, Egypt, Panama and a dozen third world countries around the globe.
Schmidt tells us that there is one major difference in what he sees occurring in our country versus the banana republics of the world.
“The thing that separates us from those third world countries.” Said Schmidt…
“…is that we are the only country building detention camps to incarcerate toddlers and infants.”
Comments on this entry are closed.