The tao of the demagogue: destabilizing the government

[cheyanne]

A demagogue needs to insure that he is the only power source in the country. He must undermine the existing government and chaos is an important tool.

Ambiguity: his pronouncements are deliberately chaotic. There point is not to articulate any policy, but in fact to make sure that no policy is stated, creating fear, uncertainty and misdirection.

Purging the bureaucracy: ridding the civil service of experienced and knowledgeable people and replacing them with people who are loyal to the demagogue.

Disrupting the usual norms and protections:

One example is the Trump's orders to the nuclear security employees and embassy personnel to immediately leave their jobs on inauguration day. There is no gain in vacating these positions without proper transfer of information, etc. This makes these agencies vulnerable to any outside power who wants to exploit American weaknesses.

[ehrnst]

1. The story on the Nuclear Security employees has been refuted by the NNSA

“The story is not accurate,” the official said. “There have been no discussions between the president-elect’s transition team and any of NNSA’s political appointees on extending their public service past Jan. 20.”


http://www.defensenews.com/articles/nnsa-denies-report-top-nuclear-officials-removed-by-trump-team

The embassy positions being purged are politicial appointees only, not career employees. That is not a postitive thing at all, but we need to be accurate when making general claims.

[cheyanne]

3. Thanks for the corrrection . . .

I'll try to be more accurate in the future.

[annabanana]

2. tao about that:

1) http://www.democraticunderground.com/10028452594
2) http://www.democraticunderground.com/10028452630