I was arguing with Russ on his blog: https://russabbott.substack.com/p/why-inside-trumps-head and because I'm impatient, decided to get Gemini to play my adversary. It was the typical AI slop and I won't foist it on you. But a couple of the tables she generated are interesting:
*Aspect* *Constitutional Unitary Executive* *Path to Authoritarianism* *Removal Power* The President can fire a disloyal agency head to ensure policy is executed. The President fires all independent watchdogs (Inspectors General, Special Counsels) to *stop investigations* or *persecute political opponents.* *Independent Agencies* Agencies have less protection from presidential policy control. The President co-opts key independent institutions like the Justice Department, FBI, Federal Communications Commission (FCC), or Electoral Commissions, and uses them for *partisan gain*. *The Rule of Law* The President must "take care that the laws be faithfully executed." The President claims the authority to *depart from the law* or *ignore court orders*, effectively placing presidential will above the law. (An extreme view infamously summarized by former President Richard Nixon: "When the president does it, that means it is not illegal.") *The Civil Service* The President has the right to manage the executive branch. The President attempts to replace the non-partisan, merit-based civil service with *politically loyal personnel* to ensure no internal resistance to the President's personal agenda. *Autocracy Type* *Characteristics Relevant to Succession* *Survival upon Leader Departure* *Personalist Autocracy* Power is highly centralized in the individual leader. Institutions (parties, military, bureaucracy) are weak or deliberately hollowed out to serve the leader's will. *More vulnerable.* The leader's departure creates a chaotic power vacuum, making the regime more susceptible to collapse, coups, or mass protest. However, even if it collapses, it is often replaced by another autocracy. *Institutionalized Autocracy* Power is shared, to some extent, among a ruling elite (a party, a ruling council, the military). These institutions provide a framework for succession and power-sharing. *More resilient.* The institutions act as a "spare tire," allowing the regime to survive the loss of the leader by smoothly replacing him with a new autocrat from within the ruling elite. The gist seems pretty solid. A Good Faith UET believer would do many of the things the Cheeto Jesus is doing, just not so "extra". It seems to me that he's working for the "Personalist Autocracy". And I don't see a successor. I still can't see anyone on the right who I'd regard as Good Faith, though. Maybe we'll see a backlash and get someone similar to Obama, who may exhibit some autocratic tendencies, but at least he's not so extra. -- ¡sıɹƎ ןıɐH ⊥ ɐןןǝdoɹ ǝ uǝןƃ ὅτε oi μὲν ἄλλοι κύνες τοὺς ἐχϑροὺς δάκνουσιν, ἐγὰ δὲ τοὺς φίλους, ἵνα σώσω.
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