Trump’s new talking point about “unelected bureaucrats” is absurd. Everyone in the executive branch besides him and Pence is unelected. Barr, Ivanka and Jared, every general and FBI agent…
The smear only works because the right has been smearing our government for decades.
The smear only works because the right has been smearing our government for decades.
You can draw a straight line from Reagan saying “the government is the problem” to Trump blaming “the Deep State” when his employees catch him criming.
There’s a difference between objecting to specific laws or politicians, and objecting to government in general. And it’s a contradiction to claim you love the Constitution but hate the system of government it sets out.
The twisted logic of Reagan, the head of government, saying “the government is the problem” was about having a PC way to criticize integration and welfare. And now it’s being used to excuse President Jim Crow’s lawlessness and treason.
Here’s my two cents on the real logic behind the contradiction, and how it connects to culture war, the Southern Strategy, and treason.
dailykos.com/stories/2017/8…
dailykos.com/stories/2017/8…
Back in Reagan’s day, the military and law enforcement were two of the exceptions to “the government is the problem”. Now they’re only exceptions when they stay out of Trump’s way. That’s autocracy.
We’re seeing the same departure from Reagan-era Republicans when it comes to American imperialism. Trumpers would rather be subordinate to Putin than to a liberal black or woman President.
If you believe in white male minority rule, and you see Trump as its avatar, it’s a small step to see him, individually, as the legitimate government. And Reagan paved the way for this by delegitimizing “the government” more broadly.
