President Donald Trump blasts through political niceties and traditions, heaping scorn on the FBI, the Justice Department, the free press and other media (except Fox and Breitbart), fact-checkers, opponents and the courts when they challenge him.
He lies boldly on a daily basis. His aggression and strategy of trying anything to see what he can get away with has largely succeeded — in wearing down opposition, numbing judgment and making acceptable what was once unacceptable.
Cabinet members and other appointees like Scott Pruitt, Betsy DeVos and Mick Mulvaney are venal and/or opposed to the very missions of their agencies.
Most Republicans have become Trumpian loyalists. Sadly, many people think authoritarianism is fine. I suggest reading Yascha Mounk’s “The People vs. Democracy: Why Our Freedom is in Danger and How to Save It” or listening to Doug Fabrizio’s interview with Mounk at kuer.org.
We need to curb Trump’s worst excesses.
Rochelle Kaplan, Cottonwood Heights