"So what do you call this act?"

As I began the previous post I realized that I had been mis-identifying the perpetrators of the ongoing destruction of the United States of America and its place in the world. It is inadequate, though certainly not entirely incorrect, to pin this all on Trump, or Musk, or the combination thereof, though they are certainly the drug-addled, greasy, poisoned tip of the spear.

I'm leaving Vance out of this on purpose despite (or indeed because of) yesterday's Donald Jr./Fredo Corleone impression. I see he got an appropriate reception on his ski trip to Vermont:

This'll sting worse than his eyeliner on the bunny slope

As someone who was referred to (in a conversation in which I was not a participant, no less) as a "flatlander" at a gas station in Chester, I approve this message.

OK, back to my point. Henceforth, when referring to anything like this, I will refer to those responsible as:

The Republicans!

To be clear I will usually omit the exclamation point.

We have to remember that the Republicans as a group are responsible for both Trump administrations. Trump's profound unfitness by any metric for the office of Anything was crystal clear years before Mark Burnett's careful editing made him ready for "reality" TV (which word should always be the first warning). Despite this the Republicans let him in probably assuming they could manage him, something that has always worked out in history whenever this situation arose.

The years 2016-2024 made him the only presidential candidate whose unfitness for the Presidency in particular was demonstrated by... his previous term as President and the aftermath. Despite this etc. etc.

Meanwhile, the hilariously named "Never Trump" Republicans (better characterized by the great Roy Edroso as "Just the Tip Trumpers") were initially more concerned that he was going too fast down the trail blazed by Reagan and paved black-ice slick by Gingrich and McConnell, giving off much more of a "he'll ruin it for us" vibe than "he'll ruin the US". They voted for him anyway because of course they did, save for those brave few who wrote in Reagan or Edmund Burke even though the latter is ineligible. (Corporeal status isn't specifically mentioned in the Constitution so that gives the "originalists" an out.) Trump's first term demonstrated the structural advantages of not giving a shit and gave them a stacked judiciary to boot, so the next time around one didn't hear so much since even the two-time write-in voters got what they wanted the first time around.

This brings us to the current state of affairs. Republicans hold all the levers of power* and we have seen in the past how a united legislative majority and/or a determined** judiciary can stymie the executive branch, especially in Congress's  rightfully jealous guard over the "power of the purse." Trump is probably deathly afraid of bugs so this time there aren't even crickets, just dead silence or enthusiastic sycophancy. After all, the destruction of the so-called "administrative state" is a top priority, to the point where the destruction of the actual state apparently is an acceptable by-product. Republicans know (and may actually find out) that this is an unpopular position, so they seem to be more than happy to let Trump do their dirty work for them.

The Republicans could have stopped this at any point and still might be able to, although I worry that this ability is waning over time. As noted above, this seems to be what they want, so it is more than fair to assign responsibility to them collectively. Call it political bigotry.

For a palate cleanser, here's the late great political philosopher Gottfried's version of the actual punchline to the post title. ("No sweat, sweat's disgusting" kills every time)

*For neither the first nor the last time, small liberal-arts college campuses are NOT a lever of power.

**By "determined" I mean "we determined the desired outcome in advance and worked backward from there." By great good fortune/stunning coincidence/I just threw up in my mouth the rigorous doctrine of "originalism" allows its proponents to bat 1.000. On to the Fourteenth so-called "Amendment"!