On submission – The Economist:

‘If a single political idea has tied Americans together over their first quarter of a millennium, it is that one-person rule is a mistake. Most Americans also agree that the federal government is slow and incompetent. Together, these things ought to make it impossible for one man to govern by diktat from the White House. And yet that is what this president is doing: sending in the troops, slapping on tariffs, asserting control over the central bank, taking stakes in companies, scaring citizens into submission.’

(…)

‘Most Americans disapprove of Mr Trump. Yet everywhere he seems to be getting his way. Why? One answer is that he moves much faster than the lumbering forces that constrain him. He is like the TikTok algorithm, grabbing attention and moving on to the next thing before his opponents have worked out what just happened. The Supreme Court has yet even to consider whether deploying troops to Los Angeles in June was lawful. While the justices take their time, the president may soon use the same routine in Chicago.’

(…)

‘The new definition of an expert in the Oval Office is someone who agrees with the boss. Bearers of bad news are sacked; awkward Republicans primaried; business leaders punished; opponents investigated. For each, the rational response is to apologise, settle and hope that someone else will do the right thing. Having seen what that entails, someone else may prefer a quiet life.’

(…)

‘Mr Trump’s ratings are low, but he is more popular than the Democratic Party—not because Republicans and independents disapprove of it (though they do), but because Democrats disapprove of themselves.
In the short run the self-loathing may be overdone. The midterms are a year away. In ten of the 12 elections for the House of Representatives this century, voters have turned against the party that holds the presidency. Gerrymandering, which will reduce the number of competitive seats in the House from few to almost none, means that even a president this unpopular is unlikely to suffer a landslide defeat in 2026. But a Democratic House with subpoena power would provide a crucial check on presidential corruption and incompetence.’

(…)

‘Demography is no longer the Democrats’ friend. Under Mr Trump, Republicans have made progress with non-white and young voters. The Democrats have lost the white working class. Although the most educated voters like them, only 40% of Americans aged 25 or over have a college degree. These changes mean the story Democrats have long told themselves—that they represented the real majority in America, but Republican machinations kept them out of power—is no longer true, if it ever was. Now they benefit from a lower turnout.’

(…)

‘Democrats need to keep asking themselves is this: why do voters think they are the extremists, rather than the guy trying to establish one-man rule?’

Read the article here.

The government (checks and balances) might be slow and incompetent but one-person rule might result in futurism in action.

The octogenarian as incarnate TikTok algorithm.

In the meantime, the liberal self-loathing continues.