Now We Know What Kind of Authoritarian Trump Aspires to Be

[j brown's body]

Just as the United States was succeeding in pushing the Ukrainian judiciary in a more democratic direction, it began plundering Ukraine’s recent past, borrowing its worst practices. The corrupt prosecutors who were displaced in the course of reform have reemerged as the conspiratorial figures whispering in Rudy Giuliani’s ear, stoking unfounded theories about Burisma and Biden. They urged Trump to exact revenge against his enemies, with the same malevolent prosecutorial intent and flimsy evidence that they might themselves have deployed.

...At the core of liberal democracy, especially as it evolved in the 20th century, is the notion that a swath of the state should be preserved as a neutral territory. One of the constraints on political power is a governmental structure that removes politics from important tasks. This commitment extended well beyond insulating the judicial system. The government installed a layer of experts and civil servants, who sat below political appointees. These are people like Alexander Vindman, who supply facts and dispassionate analysis. They are the technocrats, so maligned around the Western world these days. They tabulate the data about economic growth so that an administration can’t concoct self-serving statistics about employment and production. They process foreign intelligence so that sycophantic aides don’t simply manipulate briefings to confirm the policy biases of the commander in chief. And they exist as checks on the machinations of political appointees, sensitive to any attempts to corruptly distort the government for personal benefit.

Conservatives have long waged war on this neutral state. George W. Bush’s administration bulldozed the CIA when its bureaucracy objected to his Iraq policy; it trashed the EPA when officials there sought to provide assessments of the environmental impact of proposals. The problem with Trump is that he is even less sensitive to the idea of neutrality than were his predecessors. He’s incapable of self-control and incapable of distinguishing his self-interest from the common good. So with the ejection of Vindman and other events of this past week, it’s possible to see Trump finally making his move against the neutral state. By punishing whistle-blowers so ostentatiously, he’s disciplining the bureaucracy to accept his corruption. He’s instigating the Ukrainification of American government.

The U.S. Is Becoming More Like Ukraine - The Atlantic

I miss Bush's kinder, gentler corruption.

 

[Athanasius68]

The U.S. Is Becoming More Like Ukraine - The Atlantic

I miss Bush's kinder, gentler corruption.

A modern liberal state is not designed to be run by the bureaucrats, but rather by the elected and politically accountable.
Why anyone would want the contrary is mysterious.

 

[DamnYankee]

Now We Know What Kind of...

It took leftists 3+ years to dream this up? Lol

 

[Risky Thicket]

A modern liberal state is not designed to be run by the bureaucrats, but rather by the elected and politically accountable.
Why anyone would want the contrary is mysterious.

Elected federal officials in the US, and many holding state offices are not held politically accountable. They know it. The general public for the most part is unconcerned.

 

[Mycroft]

Let me know when the House Dems decide to remove politics from THEIR important tasks.

 

[Moonglow]

Let me know when the House Dems decide to remove politics from THEIR important tasks.

Like hamstringing a judge?

 

[Athanasius68]

Elected federal officials in the US, and many holding state offices are not held politically accountable. They know it. The general public for the most part is unconcerned.

That would be a different issue.