Krugman picks up on the Pulte clown show at DNI. He argues that while this is obviously about Trump requiring slavish loyalty and a desire to persecute Trump's many enemies, it also demonstrates that he has given up on governing.
I would actually argue that Trump never was interested in "governing" in any previously understood meaning of the word. He wanted to be the CEO/CFO of America so he could loot the country as his personal ATM. His first term was characterized by the "Adults in the Room" holding his most base instincts at least somewhat in check. (I think a lot of us were appalled by the framing of "Adults in the Room" in his first term, but boy howdy has it proven to be true.)
If Trump wanted to avoid future Iran catastrophes, then appointing a hatchet man at DNI would be a terrible idea. You absolutely need a functioning intelligence service and a credible leader of that apparatus if you want to protect the country that you were elected to serve. Of course, Trump doesn't want to serve anyone but himself.
In some ways, this is another example of the way in which authoritarianism fails. Democracy provides feedback to leaders. Democrats learned in 2024 just how damaging inflation was (and a president unable to articulate himself publicly). They have adjusted accordingly. The current GOP is an authoritarian cult of personality. They cannot course-correct. So, you get unqualified hack after unqualified hack, which will lead to more disastrous policy decisions like the Iran War.
No comments:
Post a Comment