This coup
d’etat is not only about President Trump. It represents not the rule of one man
or even many, but by the multitude of our elites.
MAY 19, 2017
It’s nearly incontrovertible that a slow-motion coup d’etat is now
taking place. Since November 9, 2016, forces within the U.S. government, media,
and partisan opposition have aligned to overthrow the Electoral College winner,
Donald Trump.
To achieve this they have undermined the institutions of the
Fourth Estate, the bureaucratic apparatus of the U.S. government, and the very
nature of a contentious yet affable two-party political system. Unlike the coup
d’etat that sees a military or popular figure lead a minority resistance or
majority force into power over the legitimate government, this coup d’etat is
leaderless and exposes some of the deepest fissures in our system of
government. This coup d’etat represents not the rule of one man or even many,
but by the multitude of our elites.
This article outlines the mechanisms, institutions, and nature of
this coup d’etat; not in defense of President Donald Trump — who has proven
himself bereft of the temperament of a successful president — but in defense of
the institutions of our republic that are now not just threatened, but may very
well be on the verge of collapse.
‘1984’ Is An Apt
Comparison, But Not As the Left Thinks
Shortly
after the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United
States, a sort of “meme” appeared among activists on the political left
comparing the status of the United States to that of George Orwell’s “1984.”
“Think pieces” from The New Yorker, CNN, The Atlantic,
and Salon drew
comparisons between President Trump and the brutally authoritarian future Orwell
envisioned. In April of this year, screenings of the film version of Orwell’s
dystopian novel were hosted around the world.
“1984” surged up Amazon’s bestseller list. The tragedy of this exercise was
that the comparison was very apt, but for different reasons.
The villain of “1984” isn’t a “man” but an entity — a bureaucracy
with an authoritarian impulse. Big Brother isn’t so much a man or a leader but
a symbol of the omnipotent reach of the bureaucratic state that dominated the
dystopian future. The fear of an elected leader turning into a tyrant — as the
political Left and some on the political Right feared in Trump — doesn’t play
into the narrative of the novel. Rather, it is the fear of a nearly faceless
administrative state; a state that has achieved a near totality in terms of
tyranny.
This fear of
the administrative state was a key feature among at least two individuals
writing at the Claremont Review of Books, Publius Decius Mus and professor
Angelo Codevilla. Decius’s “The Flight 93 Election” essay acted as a sort of
rallying cry for some conservatives and small-“r” republican intellectuals
against the very real fear that a Hillary Clinton victory would cement the
totalizing power of the administrative state — that is career bureaucrats and
administrators who view the virtues of the republic as something to be washed
away and remade in their own “progressive” image. Decius writes:
If conservatives are right about the importance
of virtue, morality, religious faith, stability, character and so on in the
individual; if they are right about sexual morality or what came to be termed
“family values”; if they are right about the importance of education to
inculcate good character and to teach the fundamentals that have defined
knowledge in the West for millennia; if they are right about societal norms and
public order; if they are right about the centrality of initiative, enterprise,
industry, and thrift to a sound economy and a healthy society; if they are
right about the soul-sapping effects of paternalistic Big Government and its
cannibalization of civil society and religious institutions; if they are right
about the necessity of a strong defense and prudent statesmanship in the
international sphere—if they are right about the importance of all this to national
health and even survival, then they must believe—mustn’t they?—that we are
headed off a cliff.
For Decius, Trump represents the final option to head off the
transformation of the American republic into an administrative state where
bureaucrats would wield an immutable regulatory dictatorship over the American
citizenry.
Codevilla,
prescient, went a step further and surmised that the republic was already dead;
the Caesarism of an imperial presidency had already usurped it:
Electing either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump
cannot change that trajectory. Because each candidate represents constituencies
hostile to republicanism, each in its own way, these individuals are not what
this election is about. This election is about whether the Democratic Party,
the ruling class’s enforcer, will impose its tastes more strongly and
arbitrarily than ever, or whether constituencies opposed to that rule will get
some ill-defined chance to strike back. Regardless of the election’s outcome,
the republic established by America’s Founders is probably gone. But since the
Democratic Party’s constituencies differ radically from their opponents’, and
since the character of imperial governance depends inherently on the emperor,
the election’s result will make a big difference in our lives.
If asked at the time of authorship, one doubts either man could
have predicted the swiftness in which the administrative state would be able to
consolidate power and isolate the presidency. Yet that is what has exactly
occurred. With the aid of the media and the Democratic Party, the institutions
of the republic are crippled, the levers of power having been seized not by the
elected but by the unelected bureaucratic state — from ideologues at the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to the partisans and paranoid who inhabit
our intelligence community.
The Administrative State
Versus the American People
Arguably, what has been branded as “The Resistance” — but in
actuality is the totalitarian might of the administrative state and their
partisan allies — began with the Democratic Party’s scorched-earth campaign
against the political nominations of the Trump White House. But beyond the
partisan rancor of the legitimate and often frustrating nomination process,
more sinister forces were at work.
Mother Jones, unwittingly, sheds light onto
the mindset of the administrative state in a piece detailing the resistance of
EPA bureaucrats. An anonymous and unelected government employee wrote to Mother Jones laying
out a lengthy argument justifying his or her resistance to reforms by EPA
Administrator Scott Pruitt and objection to directives from the White House:
What type of nation are we when we allow our
leaders to sign into law a rule that makes it EASIER for mining companies to
pollute local waterways? These same politicians will try to convince their
voters that making it easier to pollute local streams is somehow good for
them… [The
anti-democratic notion that careerists at the EPA have a greater authority than
the will of the people and their elected representatives is astounding and
stands against concept of a representative republic]
Here in the US, those of us who work to protect
the environment and human health from corporate pollution are lucky enough that
we do not live under the specter of murder. We are, however, acutely aware that
the forces behind these heinous crimes against environmental activists abroad
are the same forces that are working against us in the US today. And make no
mistake: These forces are poised to grow even stronger…
..Will the capture of EPA by corporate interests
be swept up in all the other horrifying news of the day or week? Or will the
public finally decide that it is not acceptable to allow EPA, the only agency
with a mission dedicated to protecting the environment, to be systematically
dismantled, allowing those at the top to further concentrate wealth and power
among themselves? Despite the long odds we face, we will never stop working to
protect every person’s right to have a healthy place to live, work, and play.
And if the new administrator casts me out of the job I love, I will not stop
working toward the principles that have always animated my life. This is who I
am, and that will never change. I stand in solidarity with brothers and sisters
that work to protect human rights, human health, and the environment here in the
US and all over the world. The struggle continues.
This is not the words of a dutiful civil servant but of a partisan
tyrant who would see his own view, his own agenda, and his own lens of politics
dominate over that of the elected government of the United States. In their
minds they are but a guardian of the people, albeit one that must stand up to
and ultimately negate the will of that very same people. Were the United States
governed by a different political system, this view of the role of the unelected
and their duty to act as sovereign over the people might even be admirable, but
that is not a republican system.
Which Side Is Really
Treasonous?
Complicit with the authoritarian nature of the administrative
state is factions within the United States intelligence community both inside
and outside the White House. They have engaged in a campaign of selective leaks
and plots to undermine the president of the United States and weave a media
narrative of Russian influence, conspiracy, and now obstruction of justice.
With their media allies, they have leaked information and intelligence that —
while lacking any actual criminal element — has allowed a narrative to arise
that casts a dark shadow over the White House and those who live and work in
it.
A narrative comprised of the Russian government “hacking” the
presidential election, collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian
government, and Trump being compromised by the Russian government dominated the
media before the final votes of the election were even tallied. Skepticism was
suspended for what can only be described as a concerted effort to undermine the
elected president of the United States.
Shortly after the inauguration, this narrative escalated via
select leaks — and was admirably exacerbated by White House actions. We now
face a crisis over a fired director of the FBI, with current and retired
officials spinning stories to the media with little basis other than the
whispers of anonymous sources.
We are told that President Trump demanded a loyalty oath from FBI
Director James Comey, demanded Comey drop the FBI investigation into the
foreign connections of Gen. Michael Flynn, and that this constitutes
obstruction of justice and, in the most hysterical cases, that this among other
offenses even constitutes treason.
Yet in all of this we have yet to see the purported Comey memo
detailing some of these moments — although from the media treatment it is
understandable that many would constitute the media reports as truth. The
meeting between President Trump and the Russian foreign minister has resulted
in a similar tale of collusion and gross breach of intelligence tradecraft,
with Trump’s national security advisor and the secretary of State, both present
for the meeting, have both denied.
The Media Slips Loose
the Dogs of War
In all of this, the media has abandoned their role as watchdogs
with a healthy dose of skepticism and become the propaganda arm of the
unelected administrative state, complicit in and even cheering on the actions
that have superseded the will of the people. A cursory glance at the social
media feeds of most Washington DC-based press more than illustrates this.
Bolstered by their partisan allies, the media has acted as a
beachhead for the assault on the Trump administration. Partisan organizations
like Media Matters for America have helped to provide ammunition to the media
and pour fuel on the fires of resistance among partisan activists. Eric
Boehlert, a former journalist and now a writer at Media Matters, tweeted,
following the revelation of a possible memo from Comey: “Trump obstructed
justice THREE WEEKS INTO HIS FIRST TERM”
(Go to website to read tweets)
Boehlert provides no actual evidence of obstruction of justice.
Rather, he runs with an intentional media narrative that the mere whisper, the
idea, is in-and-of-itself proof that obstruction occurred. Thus Boehlert is
affirmative in his tweet, not speculative. Because the administrative state,
the progressive political partisans, and the media oppose the Trump
administration, any whiff of maleficence is treated as the Gospel Truth.
Boehlert’s follow-up tweets provide insight into the mindset that
has taken over our media and political institutions. “Comey’s firing signaled
the end for Trump; he upset forces that were unseen to him. [sic] and now
they’re exacting revenge…..as they should”
This should be a disturbing revelation, even one coming from a
mind so addled and partisan as Boehlert’s. Justice, properly pursued, is a good
end, but what Boehlert is cheering on is the revenge of a man who was legally
and constitutionally fired. This is the partisan nature of the administrative
state revealed. Partisans of the political Left cheering on bureaucrats to help
create a narrative and the appearance of malfeasance where there has yet to be
any evidence of such.
Boehlert continues:“ftr, these leaks are unusual: Mon, WP got
scoop then quickly lots of reporters filled in. today, NYT, then lots of
reporters filled in.”
These series of tweets illustrate the broader problem of collusion
between the various elements of the partisan Left, the media, and the
administrative state. The attack on Trump from within and without is
coordinated and purposefully geared to make a lack of evidence seem like a
mountain of evidence and be as damning as possible, although what it truly
amounts to is a paper tiger. With the administrative state leaking and the
partisans giving context, the media gins up a plot that declares Trump guilty
of crimes of which there is no concrete evidence he committed. This is how you
build the consensus behind a coup d’etat.
A Smear Production
Factory
One only need look at the case of Sebastian Gorka to see just how
far and how petty the media has gone to act as the enforcer of the
administrative state. Some in the intelligence community and partisan
bureaucracy viewed Gorka unfavorably, resulting in an organized campaign in the
press against him.
The magazine Forward began
running poorly sourced articles
tying Gorka to a Hungarian order of merit called the Vitézi Rend, which, during
World War II, had factions that supported the Hungarian dictator Horthy, the
Imperial House of Habsburg, and the Nazi party. Despite no clear
evidence, Forward labeled Gorka, in essence, a Nazi. The media ran with that
narrative, bolstered by activist campaigns by partisans of the Democratic Party
and those opposed to Gorka in the intelligence community.
We have emerged into a new system of
government, though perhaps not truly an imperial one.
In truth, the real objection to Gorka was his view of Islam as a
civilizational confrontation and of radical Islam as a hostile force against
the West. There as yet remains no evidence of Gorka or his father being tied to
the Nazi party in any way — yet that did not stop journalists from surmising on
social media that Gorka’s immigration to the United States and status as a U.S.
citizen should have been blocked and should be revoked.
The scale of the administrative state and its allies’ war against
the duly elected government of the United States should be startling. The media
should be an institution of skepticism and concern for this usurpation, yet
they have chosen to be complicit. In this, Codevilla is correct. We have
emerged into a new system of government, though perhaps not truly an imperial
one.
Whereas some continue to try and enforce republican values and
norms, a large swath of what administers the government of our nation has
chosen to embody the Roman dictator Sulla — in the form of a multitude of
bureaucrats and careerists; a dictatorial court without an emperor to bring
them to heel.
We may already be past the point of no return. Some in the White
House made it a point to seek dismantling the administrative state, but it
appears the administrative state is more than capable of fighting back and
seizing additional power through leaks, obstinacy, and partisan rancor —
ensuring its survival and propelling what can only be described as a coup
d’etat.
James
Downton is the pen name of a Federalist contributor who is contractually
prohibited from writing publicly about politics under his real name.