Slate - "The Bumbling Autocrat" (yes, it's about tRump)

[NRaleighLiberal]

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/the_good_fight/2017/07/trump_is_an_authoritarian_by_instinct_not_ideology.html

Authoritarian by Instinct

Trump is subverting democracy and the rule of law, one bumbling misstep at a time.

By Yascha Mounk

More than six months into his presidency, Donald Trump continues to function as a Rorschach test, even to his most vociferous critics. Is he a bumbling fool who doesn’t know what he’s doing? Or is he a dangerous authoritarian who might do grievous damage to American democracy?


The correct answer to both questions, the past weeks have made clear, is yes.

Trump is an authoritarian—but by instinct rather than by ideology. It is blindingly obvious that he is an amateurish hack of a president, who doesn’t have anything close to a strategic plan to concentrate power in his own hands. But it is also blindingly obvious that he is unwilling to tolerate any rightful limits on his authority, and seeks to weaken or abolish independent institutions whenever they frustrate his ambitions.

Trump did not come into office as a sworn enemy of the FBI, or the filibuster, or even the judiciary. But since all of these institutions have hampered his ability to rule by fiat, or stand above the rule of law, each of them has quickly come to bear the brunt of his anger.

snip - more at the link above

[tblue37]

1. K&R for visibility. nt

[Solly Mack]

2. K&R

[Blanks]

3. People have been complaining...

For as long as I can remember that the presidency/executive branch has been growing in power.

Trump, through his bumbling incompetence, is going to tighten the 'reigns' on the executive branch. We've already seen the courts restrict his Muslim ban and congress push back against any recess appointments he may be thinking about.

I expect when the republicans are tossed out, we will see the power of the presidency a little better defined.

[smirkymonkey]

4. K&R

[cpamomfromtexas]

5. And will this weakening of limits just embolden other Republicans right behind him?