Your Institutions Will Not Save You

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Way back in 2016, after Trump “won” the presidential election through minority vote, there were a number of experts on authoritarianism speaking out on the results. One particular writer, Masha Gessen^[1], summarized three principles:

1. Believe the autocrat.
2. Don’t be taken in by small signs of normality.
3. Your institutions will not save you.

Gessen was absolutely correct, and his predictions are still playing out eight years later. Especially, “Your institutions will not save you.”

The Drip, Drip Drip of Eroding Institutions

The erosion of our institutions started on Trump’s inaugural day. Faced with an underwhelming number of real people showing up in Washington, Trump chose to lie about “his numbers.” In true autocratic style, when Trump lied our institutions corrupted themselves to support him. Official Government photographers edited their images to make the crowd size appear larger. The National Park Service, responsible for organizing the Inauguration, lied about the crowd size in official press releases. All done just to assuage Trump’s ego, because Trump needed to have a bigger crowd attending his inauguration that the former black-guy president.

This was a small thing, but in hindsight was a warning on how easily our institutions would become corrupted.

Small Reasons for Corruption

Over the next four years of Trump’s reign of error, we continued to see one institution after another corrupted. Our Department of Homeland Security vouched for Trumps “Sharpiegate” editing of a National Weather Service chart predicting Hurricane Doria’s forecasted impact. Then, the NOAA violated its ethical standards and scientific integrity policy by officially contradicting the National Weather Service’s accurate forecast.

These dishonest actions were done to massage Trump’s fragile ego. Nothing more, and nothing less. My surprise was how quickly our formerly respected institutions would corrupt themselves for even the most trivial issues.

Cover for the Big Stuff

But, all this trivial stuff was distraction for big things going on behind the curtains. The Republican-controlled Senate rammed through confirmations for judge positions opened, but blocked, during Obama’s previous administration. Some nominees were rated as “unqualified, but approved by Republican votes anyway. Three were supreme court justices. Corrupt Republican Senator Mitch McConnell even changed how many senate votes were needed for confirmation, from the previous 3/5 (60 ) votes to the bare minimum of 51 votes. It was the only way McConnell could get corrupt, openly partisan judges approved.

Installing unqualified partisan judges has had a lasting impact on the entire federal judiciary system. And having a lasting impact on our entire Democracy.

The Pandemic

We can’t talk about corrupting institutions without including the COVID-19 pandemic. Perhaps the biggest hit any formerly respected U.S. institution took was the Center for Disease Control (CDC). Once a globally-respected leader on medical issues, by the time Trump left office the CDC had only a shadow of it’s former respectability. During the pandemic’s run, it became increasingly obvious the CDC was issuing guidance based on political considerations of Trump winning his pending re-election. Not on sound medical sciences.

In addition to the CDC was the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), then-led by Doctor Anthony Fauci.

The abuse and general level of disrespect Dr. Fauci received from Trump and the entire hierarchy of Trump administration officials, right-wing news sources, and the general (Republican) public was a national disgrace. Dr. Fauci’s only “crime” was trying to convince the Trump administration to enact and enforce policies with a proven medical track record of saving lives and reducing the spread of infectious diseases during a global pandemic.

But, no one could have anticipated that demonizing respected medical expects, politicalizing medical institutions, and generally ignoring sound medical practices would end up costing the United States the poorest response to COVID-19 of any industrialized nation.

The Erosion Continues

Trump’s legacy of corrupted institutions continues. Our institutions lost many respected experts during the Trump administration, replaced by lesser-qualified political hacks.

Worse, Trump has maintained a Shadow Government since ignobly departing the White house. He continues to influence elected Republican leaders at the state and federal level into taking official actions that provide Trump with campaign fodder for a second run for President. In addition to non-disclosed meetings with foreign heads-of-state, in violation of the Logan Act.

Our Corrupted Fourth Estate

With this current presidential campaign, we’re seeing our once-vaunted “Fourth Estate” of a free press has also fallen. The rumble of open complaints about our major media outlets sanewashing Trump’s increasingly deranged campaign appearances has become a roar. In just the past week, two of our largest and most respectable news media – the Los Angeles Times and Washington Post – have declined to make a presidential endorsement, by direction of their billionaire owners over desires of their editorial staff.

I’m sure Trump’s repeated campaign threats of vengeance on journalists and media outlets, promises to jail reporters, and strip television networks of their broadcast licenses is not related to the cowardice of these owners. Not to mention, these billionaires have potential government contracts waiting for them if Trump, as president (again) likes them.

Everything Trump Touches, Dies

During Trump’s lifetime, every business he owned/ran went bankrupt – but Trump profited. In just a few years as American President, Trump has deeply corrupted our Democracy, and our many once proud institutions that took decades to establish. And Trump is once again running for president.

Once lost, it takes a lot of effort for an institution to regain its reputation. I don’t know what it will take to restore our many corrupted institutions once this monster Trump finally shuffles off our national stage.

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• Running From The Thundering Hooves
• Trump’s Treason Mocks My Life
• Trump’s Shithole Country

Cross-posted to my Daily Kos account at “Your Institutions Will Not Save You.”

1. Gessen, M. (2020). Surviving Autocracy. Riverhead Books. [↩]