The Guardian: Call it the Trump regime [View all]

[MBS]

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jul/03/donald-trump-administration-regime?
EXCERPT:
. . . But the difference between an administration and a regime is not just cloaking coarseness and crudity with a veneer of civility. Lyndon Johnson, for example, was notoriously crude. Yet he and other presidents, even the incompetent ones such as Warren G Harding, did something else too. They actually had administrations.
They recognized the importance of governing and putting in the time and long, hard work of getting things done – be it partnering with or fighting against Congress, negotiating substantive treaties, and crafting and implementing economic and domestic policies.

Then there is Trump. He has no desire or intention to govern. He wants to rule. Where his word is our command. That’s why he admires the regimes in the Philippines, Russia and Turkey – and despises administrations such as Angela Merkel’s and Justin Trudeau’s. That is why he stages rallies where he is showered with adoration by hand-picked fans and, just as significantly, why he abhors town halls and press conferences.

That is why he issues pronouncements and executive orders rather than provides any real leadership on developing legislation and policies. That is why he demands loyalty to him – not to the US constitution. That is why he rails against a free press calling the media “fake news” and “garbage journalism” because he can’t control its content. That is why he is contemptuous of science and scientists because it and they will not bend to his ignorance. That is why his first full Cabinet meeting was a scene straight out of Pyongyang and not Washington. . .

. . .the US under Trump’s reign has shriveled. There is a precipitous decline in the status and stature of the US around the world. Even the queen of England doesn’t want Trump to come over for a visit. While governing and administration have fallen by the wayside, the signs of a Trump regime are everywhere. There’s the nepotism as son-in-law Jared Kushner and daughter Ivanka Trump, who have absolutely no governmental experience whatsoever, have ensconced themselves in offices in the West Wing.

There's the cronyism. . . There's the unabashed greed. . .There's the gas lighting of the American people. . . Meanwhile, the sinews of governing, of administration are frayed. . .As of 2 June, barely 3% of the positions that require Senate approval have been confirmed simply because he hasn’t bothered to nominate anyone. But Trump does not want a governing apparatus in place. He wants a regime. As America celebrates its independence, we have to ask is that what we want.