The Putinization of America

Sunday, March 02, 2025

Unleashing Elon Musk and his DOGE cadres on the federal government, menacing Canada and European allies, and embracing Vladimir Putin's wish list for Ukraine and beyond are not unrelated. These moves are all strategic elements of a plan that is familiar to any student of the rise and fall of democracies, especially the "fall" part.

Posted by Gal_Tuesday at 10:48 AM | 114 COMMENTS | permalink

Trump isn't just rootin' for Putin; he's puttin' out for Putin.[image or embed]
" George Conway (@gtconway.bsky.social) March 1, 2025 at 11:06 AM

Comments

FTA:

Ronald Reagan gave a famous speech supporting Barry Goldwater for president in 1964 in which he said, "No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size ... A government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth." As a "Reagan Communist" myself back in the U.S.S.R., I sympathize with those who want to shrink and limit government power. But replacing it with a junta of unaccountable elites"the Putin model"is not an improvement.

Cutting bureaucracy isn't usually associated with despotism and power grabs. We tend to think of wannabe dictators packing the courts and increasing the size and power of the state. But that isn't what you do when you want to make the government impotent against private power"your private power. The Putin model was to weaken any state institution that might defy him and to build state power back up only when he had total control.

But why has Trump made Putin's agenda his top priority? The GOP has been compliant with every Trump move so far, but a few members still take issue with Trump calling Zelensky a dictator while cozying up to Putin. So why pick fights with his narrow congressional majorities over Russia so early, with such urgency? The same could be asked of Musk's reckless slash-and-burn tactics with DOGE, which are beginning to provoke backlash as popular programs are cut and job losses pile up, along with lawsuits.

These are not the acts of people who expect to lose power any time soon, or ever. They are racing to the point where they will not be able to afford to lose control of the mechanisms they are ripping up and remaking in their image. What such people will do when they believe that mounting a coup is the lesser risk to their fortunes and power cannot be predicted.

There may be a Pulitzer Prize awaiting the person who discovers the answer to the question "Why?" But stopping Putinization"the looting by cronies, the centralization of authority, the moving of decisions into unaccountable private hands"is the vital matter of the moment. Trump admiring Putin is far less dangerous than Trump becoming him.

#1 | Posted by Gal_Tuesday at 2025-03-02 08:08 AM

... Trump and his Republican friends want to enact massive cuts to the program. ...

What is President Trump Saying About Medicaid? (February 28, 2025)
ccf.georgetown.edu

... Asked about broader spending cuts ... Trump said we'll "love and cherish" Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, the last of which insures more than 70 million Americans.

"We're not going to do anything with that, unless we can find some abuse or waste," Trump said.

"The people won't be affected.

It will only be more effective and better."

" Politico January 31, 2025
...