CONTEXT
My Perplexity AI account has 5 search options, three of which are deep research and reasoning options, two are research-lite. AI has taught me how to ask more complex and precise questions. It is actually pretty easy now. Posing sophisticated, complex questions allows me to see what a deep analysis by an expert might look like. It's the closest thing to asking a true expert to draw on lots of information and synthesize answers. Sure, sometimes it makes a mistake and draws a clearly flawed or unsupported conclusion from the info sources it selects. AI isn't human and doesn't have human judgment. But in my opinion and experience, it's surprisingly good, usually equal or better than what I can do on my own. where it falls down is lack of human judgment and understanding of nuance (shades of gray) inherent in human cognitive biology and social behavior.
IS MAGA'S DICTATORSHIP AND
DEMAGOGUERY LEGITIMATE?
Yesterday, I posted this Q&A in a post that was TL/DR for most people to go through. Here is the 3rd of the 4 Q&As that were asked in one of Perplexity's deep research and reasoning modes (Grok 2, not DeepSeek). It strikes me as an important bit of analysis to be aware of.
Q3: You assert that "the argument that widespread violence is inevitable under MAGA rule reflects genuine despair over institutional failures but risks legitimizing the very authoritarianism it seeks to oppose", but that authoritarianism (and corruption) has already been normalized by the 2024 elections that returned Trump and the GOP to power. What more legitimacy do they need? They have all the power.A3: .... long analysis ....
Beyond Legitimacy: The Naked Power Reality
The Endgame of Post-Legitimacy Authoritarianism MAGA’s trajectory reveals a shift from legitimacy-seeking to raw power consolidation. Key indicators:
1. Personalist Rule: Trump’s installation of family members (Donald Jr. as Senior Adviser, Ivanka as UN Ambassador) and loyalists (Steve Bannon as Chief Strategist) bypasses traditional accountability structures 9.
2. Information Control: FCC revocation of broadcast licenses for CNN and MSNBC (March 2025) under “national security” pretexts completes media capture 15.
3. Paramilitary Integration: Oath Keepers and Proud Boys members now comprise 12% of DHS staff under the “Patriot Recruitment Initiative” 2.
These moves reflect what scholar Juan Linz termed “sultanistic regimes”—systems where personal loyalty replaces ideological or institutional legitimacy.The Illusion of Inevitability
MAGA’s greatest strength lies in fostering belief in its invincibility. Yet history shows no regime is permanent. The 1986 People Power Revolution (Philippines) and 2018 Armenian Velvet Revolution prove even militarized autocracies can fall to sustained nonviolent resistance.
Current mutual aid networks—feeding 17 million Americans through church basements and community centers—demonstrate grassroots resilience 15. Legal scholars note that 132 sanctuary cities still defy federal immigration orders, while Texas’ Supreme Court rebellion against Trump’s EPA overreach shows federalism’s lingering power 13.
Conclusion: Legitimacy as Theater in the Autocratic Play
MAGA’s post-2024 legitimacy is performative—a stage play where democratic rituals mask authoritarian reality. Like Putin’s Russia or Orbán’s Hungary, the regime requires constant legitimacy theater: staged elections, co-opted courts, and propagandized crises.
Yet as the 2026 midterms approach—with GOP plans to eliminate mail-in voting in 19 states—the façade grows thinner. The true battle lies not in debating MAGA’s legitimacy but in exposing its fictional nature while rebuilding democratic power from below. For in the end, no amount of institutional capture can withstand a populace that withdraws its complicity and reclaims the courage to imagine—and fight for—a different future.
In my opinion, djt and MAGA elites relied very heavily on demagoguery or dark free speech to regain power. Because they created false realities and beliefs in the minds of tens of millions of Americans, one can argue that djt and MAGA are both illegitimate. As I argued a few weeks ago, the will of the demagogues subverted and overpowered the will of the people.
Here, one can see a plausible, logical extension of my earlier argument that the will of the people was an illusion in the 2024 elections. What AI analysis convinces me is true is this:
MAGA’s trajectory reveals a shift from legitimacy-seeking to raw power consolidation.
In other words, djt and MAGA are in a mode that transitions from seeking legitimacy to simply consolidating power. I believe that analysis is true. djt and MAGA elites are not stupid. They hear people complaining. But they could not care less about that. Now they are making their run at unrestrained power and wealth, the consequences be damned. And given how subverted and weak our federal rule of law, law enforcement and courts are, the chances of significant consequences for breaking laws and large-scale corruption are quite low in my opinion.
