Authoritarian Guide To Power: “I alone can fix it”

“I like acting because I can move so quickly. It gives me more flexibility.”

In July 2016, candidate Donald Trump declared that he alone could fix America’s problems big and small. It was at the Republican National Convention where he ranted: “I alone can fix it.”

There was a few stunned Americans who understood the dangers revealed in those words but mostly Trump got a pass on that salvo.

Now, in April 2019, America, and indeed the world, can no longer ignore the intent of Trump’s declaration of July 22, 2016.

As evidenced by the most recent firing/resignation, that of Kirstjen Nielsen as Secretary of Homeland Security, the Administration is in utter chaos and the infrastructure of our Democracy is being taken apart piece by piece right before our half-closed eyes.

Trump will appoint an ‘acting’ Secretary of Homeland Security, someone who will join a long list of ‘non-confirmed actors’:

Secretary of Defense, Secretary of the Air Force • U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations • Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director • Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator • Secretary of the Interior • Administrator of the Small Business Administration • Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Director • Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Administrator • Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner • and, White House Chief of Staff.

In addition, key positions throughout the government remain unfilled: ‘At the Department of Defense, 25% of key positions (as of April 1) remain unfilled, according to The Washington Post and the Partnership for Public Service. At the State Deptartment it is 39%. At Homeland Security the number jumps to 44% of key positions unfilled.’

UPDATE: It is being reported today that Trump is adding another to the list: he has told acting COS Mulvaney to fire Secret Service Director Randolph “Tex” Alles.