This is a Coup
Donald Trump and Elon Musk are engaging in a coup at this time. They are ignoring our Legislative and Judicial branches of government and bypassing bureaucratic rules within federal departments. They are replacing current vetted, nonpartisan, experienced federal employees with sycophants with questionable backgrounds and qualifications. By the time they are done, we will for the first time since before the Revolutionary war be ruled by one person rather than our Constitution.
How are they doing this? It's obvious when you look carefully.
Distraction
Trump has pushed the idea that the United States might take over Panama, Greenland, and Canada, possibly by force (which means, war). There is no logical sense to any of this, since the minor grievances he touts can be handled by negotiation. There is no “emergency” on our borders at this time, but emergency powers Trump declared give him more authority to act unilaterally. These are a distraction from the coup.
Trump created a DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) boogyman to try to gloss over why he needs to go after federal employees. There is no actual problem with hiring a diverse group of qualified people in our federal government. This is a distraction and an excuse only.
Trump has slapped tariffs on our largest and most reliable trading partners, Canada and Mexico. He offers no reasoning that makes sense. This will harm their economies as well as ours, hurting everybody and helping only to distract from the coup.
Ignore
The Constitution was designed to make sure that governmental power does not reside in the hands of one person or small group. That is why powers are divided between Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches. Each has the authority to put a check on the other two, using rules and guidelines spelled out within the Constitution and through laws legally passed. President Trump, without placing his hand on the Bible, just pledged during his swearing-in to “preserve, protect and defend” the Constitution. He is not doing any of that. He has for example signed executive orders that go against the Constitution, such as his attempt to end birth citizenship, which is clearly written in the 14th amendment.
Elon Musk was designated head of a made-up organization called the Department of Governmental Efficiency (DOGE), which is to look for waste within the federal departments. It was subsumed into a real department, the United States Digital Service, which was formed in 2014. The USDS is designed to help federal departments be more efficient in their digital work environment. This means USDS employees are meant to work within the computer systems in many departments of government. Musk has used this authority to at times force his way into the databases that American citizens assume are safe and secure from outside prying eyes. For instance, “Earlier, the New York Times reported Trump’s Treasury secretary Scott Bessent handed Doge department officials access to the payment system which sends out money to the tune of $5 trillion per year on behalf of the entire federal government on Friday, citing anonymous sources. “ [https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2025/02/02/this-needs-to-stop-now-elon-musk-confirms-radical-doge-us-treasury-plan/]
The fight for database access has begun: “Over the weekend, two top security officials at USAID were put on administrative leave for refusing members of the Department of Government Efficiency access to systems at the agency, even when DOGE personnel threatened to call law enforcement, multiple sources familiar with the situation told CNN. The DOGE personnel wanted to gain access to USAID security systems and personnel files, three sources said. Two of those sources also said the DOGE personnel wanted access to classified information, which only those with security clearances and a specific need to know are able to access. “ [https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/03/politics/usaid-washington-workers/index.html] This begs the question: why are the USDS employees trying to circumvent established security to access any database they want? And by what authority are the claiming this privilege?
Infiltrate, Replace
So now, with control of a department that can walk into pretty much any federal bureaucracy and demand access to their databases, and by firing current federal employees to replace them with Trump sycophants, what will be left of the federal government but a mass of Trump loyalists with unknown qualifications for their jobs? And what will these people do when their loyalty is not to the Constitution, but to a man?
I feel like we're all on a cruise ship where we voted for which crew we wanted by a small margin. As we're leaving the dock we begin to notice that our crew is methodically dismantling the ship while claiming that everything is fine.
Things to Read
Hiding in Plain Sight: the Invention of Donald Trump and the Erosion of America, by Sarah Kendzior
The Power of the Powerless, by Vaclav Havel
Soft Power: the Means to Success in World Politics, by Joseph S. Nye, Jr.
How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them, by Jason Stanley
How to Lose a Country: the 7 Steps from Democracy to Dictatorship, by Ece Temelkuran
