I’ve been reflecting on Trump’s threats, lies, and broken promises.
I know that I’m on a loop with this. Partly blame my curiosity for checking the news each morning, a memory that pretty reliably reminds me of what happened in the past, and the constant news barrage about Trump. As POTUS, he and/or his administration are often suing and being sued. He keeps breaking political norms which served the nation well and does so on airy, fantasy fueled whims and desire for more power and control.
Yet, the power and control he exercises is often flawed and grows out of control. Trump consistently proves he’s a shallow thinker, with little thought or interest in collateral and secondary impact — unless they’re enriching him, or increasing his fame. His is a narrow spectrum of thought.
He makes and breaks promises with regularity that rivals the setting and rising sun. These are easily proven because of modern technology. We don’t need to pour over journals, records, ancient manuscripts, or dig through bones. Search engines verify them with a few fingerstrokes and clicks. Only those who are using his agenda to further their interests or those who want to willingly accept him as their golden leader pretends otherwise.
Trump is aware of his shortcomings on one level and tries to hide them or compensate. This has led to an ongoing, widening series of provocative declarations and impulsive actions which I lump under the umbrella of Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! Trump counts on people being easily charmed by him. He counts on being able to menace and bully people through power and wealth. His strategy leans heavily on people having short memories, being too busy to pay attention, or lacking the mental faculties and critical thinking to parse what he’s done and their impact.
His strategy is working on a smaller and smaller percentage of people.
That makes Trump more dangerous, because as he flails, fades, and fails, he seeks greater confirmation that he’s powerful, beloved, in control, and that all is going great, and that all is going great is due to him, and his leadership. Now, desperate to remain in power because he knows the consequences of not being in control will be accountability, Trump is fighting hard to control the upcoming elections.
Screaming fraud and stolen elections for years, he’s never proven any of his claim. On the contrary, investigations show the voter fraud is impressively small.
Nevertheless, Trump has gone after every facet of voting that he can. The Constitution specifies that states handle the voting mechanism, including time, place, location. States also determine voter eligibility and register voters. They decide how the voters are legally handled and counted. This has been going on as nation for almost 250 years, and has been under almost constant scrutiny and improvement.
Trump, however, is trying to increase the Executive Branch’s direct control over how the states register people, let them vote, and count the votes. Beyond his usual executive decrees and flawed texts and speeches about voter fraud, Trump has employed Federal money to bribe and coerce the states. He’s trying to curtail how ballots are counted by limiting when they must be received and counted. Trump is going after the state voter rolls themselves. Some states are pushing back but too many, led by GOP governments, are rolling over to Trump’s demands like well-trained pets.
All of Trump’s actions align with the Unitary Executive Theory, which gives the president and executive branch more power while sidestepping Congressional input and authority, and curtailing the judiciary’s impact and influence. We the People speak primarily through our elected officials in Congress.
With the UET in place, our voice is effectively muted. Congress can pass laws and establish agencies and dictate what’s supposed to be done and how the mechanics of government is supposed to work, but if Trump decides, “No, that’s not what I want,” then he ignores all of those limitations and legal requirements and does as he desires.
Trump’s approach becomes bifurcated, then. His financial policies and blueprint typically favor himself and the wealthiest in our nation. However, he leans on his shrinking base and Project 2025 for support, which means he advances policies to reduce business oversight and regulations for all aspects of working and living in the US.
Right now, aided by the Roberts Court and a compliant GOP in Congress, the Trump administration is trying to consolidate power. It all reminds me of the ECU problem.
Back in the late last century, computers were introduced to cars to manage engines, something called the Electronic Control Module. With it in place, car engines were constantly monitored for knocks and performance. The ECU then adjusted different aspects — fuel/air mixture, timing, advance, etc. But sometimes, by rigidly focusing on fixing these things toward one optimal goal, they ended up stopping the car from running. Mechanics then had to tear it all apart and rebuild.
Likewise, the Soviet Union, through Gosplan and central planning. Yet, when the data didn’t match the expectations demanded or expected, data was falsified, classic Cover Your Ass behavior.
Sound familiar at all?
Trump tends to fire those who don’t give him the news he wants. This will remove him further and further from contact with what’s really going on. So, like that ECU, he’s trying to overoptimize the system to the point that it will be rigid and then break under its own mechanism.
The questions are, where will we be then, and how will we adjust?
