Bits: MAGA protects rogue cops; MAGA attacks the rule of law in the US military; MAGA attacks the IRS

Our rogue president and rogue DoJ have given blanket protection to rogue cops. Justice Department deletes database tracking federal police misconduct -- Trump executive order ends National Law Enforcement Accountability Database, which he proposed creating in 2020. The first nationwide database tracking misconduct by federal police officers has been shut down by President Donald Trump, the Justice Department confirmed, deleting a resource that experts said improved public safety by helping to prevent bad officers from jumping to new agencies and starting over with clean records.

Nice work shoes, very sensible

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A NYT opinion says we have a rogue president. the author, Frank Kendall, was the secretary of the Air Force in the Biden administration. Germaine says we had a rogue president from Jan. 2017 to Jan. 2021 and again from Jan. 2025 until now. America Has a Rogue President (not paywalled) -- President Trump’s decision to fire senior military leaders without cause is foolish and a disgrace. It politicizes our professional military in a dangerous and debilitating way. What frightens me even more is the removal of three judge advocates general, the most senior uniformed legal authorities in the Defense Department. Their removal is one more element of this administration’s attack on the rule of law, and an especially disturbing part.

Kendall's opinion goes on to assert that the three people djt fired Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., Gen. James Slife and Adm. Lisa Franchetti, were extremely capable apolitical professional officers who served for decades with honor and distinction over multiple administrations. He says that the three were treated unfairly and fired without cause. 

Kendall says he is worried about political loyalty becoming a criterion to hold high military positions. He points to “the utter lack of respect for legal constraints” by djt and MAGA elites now in power. Well Sir, that horse ran out of the barn the day djt was re-elected in Nov. 2024. Unfairness is  literally nothing to djt and MAGA in pursuit of unrestrained power and wealth. The law is something they still have to be somewhat concerned about. Can the US military's vaunted professionalism and loyalty to the rule of law stand up to djt and elite MAGA thugs in power? Time will tell.

I'm NOT a rogue president,

and . . . . Fani, you're fired!!

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That is not going to happen to MAGA elites 

and most rich people who are not enemies of djt

Another fun-filled NYT opinion (not paywalled) by a slew of former IRS Commissioners since the Reagan administration say that djt and MAGA are attacking the IRS. No surprise there. That's in Project 2025's plans. The Commissioners write:

Trump Just Fired 6,700 I.R.S. Workers in the Middle of Tax Season. 

That’s a Huge Mistake.

If you were to ask the top chief executives in the world to name the best strategy to attack waste in their organizations and balance the books, there is one answer you would be very, very unlikely to hear: Take an ax to accounts receivable, the part of an organization responsible for collecting revenue.

Yet the private sector leaders advising President Trump on ways to increase government efficiency are deploying this exact approach by targeting the Internal Revenue Service, which collects virtually all the receipts of the U.S. government — our nation’s accounts receivable division. Last week, the Trump administration started laying off about 6,700 I.R.S. employees, many if not most of whom are directly involved in collecting unpaid taxes.

Sigh. Here we have yet another, sincere, heart-felt warning from experienced experts acting in good will who can clearly see what is going on but still just cannot bring themselves to call a freaking spade a spade. They just can't do it. It's too hard (cognitively dissonant) to come out and say it. djt and MAGA are setting up federal infrastructure needed to implement and support dictatorship and kleptocracy.

Crud.

Anyway, the commissioners point out that reducing IRS resources will make government less effective in collecting the taxes. Sigh. Of course. That's the whole freaking point Commissioners, you boobs. The plan is brain-dead simple, honest people will pay their taxes and tax cheats won't. This effort will also kill the IRS effort to simplify tax filings, also a very popular item among the public ( /s). The Commissioners end their opinion with this quaint plea: "But whatever the future size and priorities of the IRS, our country needs a fully functioning tax system."

Geez, the last thing that MAGA kleptocracy needs is a fully functioning tax system. These people still don't get it. Firing IRS employees isn't a mistake. It is part of the plan, you hopeless boobs. 

Q: Are those Commissioners dense, naive or what, or is Germaine off his anti-insanity and anti-hallucination meds as usual? 

My 2024 estimate: Tax evasion is running at about $1.1 trillion

My recollection of the IRS 2023 estimate (until djt hides the data): ~$700 billion

My 2025 estimate: ~$1.5 trillion

The transition of MAGA dictatorship from legitimacy seeking to power consolidation

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.

Golf update

Pennlive reports:

One government expense that Elon Musk and DOGE have not addressed yet is the amount of money President Donald Trump spends golfing.

But, if Musk and DOGE do look at that, well … Trump is reportedly on pace to put an incredible amount of taxpayer money into perfecting his game this year. And that is because, according to HuffPost, Trump has spent an estimated $10.7 million playing golf in the first month of his return to office.

The site said it calculated the cost based off of a 2019 report from the Government Accountability Office that broke down the cost of Trump’s trips to Mar-a-Lago. That report, HuffPost said, said it cost taxpayers $3,383,250 for each trip.

The site said that Trump has golfed every weekend since taking office on Jan. 20 and played golf at his own properties on nine of his first 30 days in office. The site noted that because that report was based on costs in 2017, the costs is likely higher in today’s dollars. It puts Trump on pace to spend well over $100 million golfing in 2025. HuffPost reported that he spent an estimated $152 million, golfing 293 days at his own resorts, during his first term.

Well, guess we know who is running the executive branch day-to-day. It’s not djt. He’s busy golfing. 

Pssst, have I got a deal for you . . . . bend over

Regarding violent resistance: Analysis of MAGA and its asymmetric epistemic advantage

I'm afraid this is another TL/DR post. Sorry. I didn't intend it to be that way, but the seriousness of our situation keeps prodding me to look for answers to complicated questions. At least check out the three key points (bullet points) at the top of the four AI Q&As at the end of the post.

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Threats to Americans under djt and MAGA's corrupt, iron fist regime are rapidly intensifying. Some planned policy goals will literally kill a lot of innocent Americans. For example, deranged MAGA freak RFK Jr. is now pulling the plug on activities related to development and evaluation of vaccine safety and efficacy. arstechnica writes:

Just days after anti-vaccine advocate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. became the country's top health official, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has already pulled back some of its efforts to protect Americans with safe, lifesaving vaccines.

Last weekend, a Washington Post columnist noted on Bluesky that the CDC's effective "Wild to Mild" seasonal flu shot campaign had vanished. The campaign highlighted how the seasonal vaccines can prevent influenza infections from becoming severe or life-threatening.

Meanwhile on Thursday, The Washington Post reported that the HHS told the CDC to indefinitely postpone a meeting of its vaccine advisory committee (the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP), which Kennedy has criticized. ACIP, comprised of independent experts, meets regularly to review and discuss vaccine safety and efficacy data and vote on recommendations.

 

One thing that can be said of what MAGA wants to do to public health is that it is not merely aimed at fixing problems. It is aimed at destroying American public health policy and infrastructure. RFK Jr. promised he was going to be guided only by data, but that was a profoundly insulting lie. He could not care less about data. He wants to see thousands of Americans die from infectious diseases.

Violence?

The following is not an assertion that most actors in certain groups are MAGA. It is an assertion  that enough are MAGA and (i) they are now in power, and (ii) unrestrained by laws, morals, inconvenient facts and truths, rationality, good will, common sense, or anything else. The following is not an argument favoring violence. It is my personal assessment of our situation, nothing more.

It is time to contemplate the outbreak of widespread violence. djt and MAGA elites have forced many Americans into untenable positions. The GOP, federal courts (especially the USSC), law enforcement, the rule of law, the Dem Party, the private business sector, and Christianity have all failed and betrayed us, our democracy and our civil liberties. Who or what is left to defend us? The bare majority of Americans who oppose the corrupt dictatorship that djt and MAGA elites are forcing on us leaves opposition with few options. 

Mass demonstrations and protests will not faze djt or MAGA elites in the slightest. Again, who or what is left to defend us? 

Top: djt & MAGA

Bottom: Democracy & rule of law

I do not know how likely widespread violence is. Again, I am not advocating violence. But it does seem increasingly possible that there could be a violent rebellion in the near future. 

I agree with, and have been arguing basically the same the analyses and conclusions that the following four AI deep research Q&As assert, i.e., Perplexity's Deep Research mode and I are in almost 100% agreement. For people who distrust AI and won't read any of it, ignore that and pretend that all of the following analyses have been written by me personally. If you don't want to read any or some of that, here are three key points that come out of these four analyses:

• Violence in resistance to djt  and MAGA literally is killing us, but might backfire, strengthening djt's and MAGA elites' power, while weakening our power and civil liberties.

• Dishonest speech, demagoguery, dark free speech, deceptive/divisive propaganda, or whatever one calls it, is more powerful and persuasive than weak honest speech. There is an epistemic asymmetry in authoritarianism that greatly favors authoritarianism over democracy. As I posted last month, this knowledge dates back at least to Plato and Aristotle in ~400 BC. Here, Perplexity reinvents that old wheel.

• Sometimes demagogue-driven authoritarianism is brittle because they depend on perpetual crisis and can be eroded by their own excesses. We just might have to live through this, even if it kills thousands of us.

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Q1: How plausible is the argument that Trump and MAGA have forced people into untenable positions and widespread violence is the only option left, with the argument articulated like this?: The following is not an assertion that most actors in certain groups are MAGA. It is an assertion that (my first two paragraphs from above pasted into the question) .... 

A1: The resurgence of Donald Trump and the MAGA movement has intensified debates about the stability of American democracy, the role of institutional safeguards, and the potential for widespread political violence. Over the past decade, Trump’s rhetoric, policy initiatives, and alliances with far-right actors have systematically eroded democratic norms, weaponized governmental power, and normalized authoritarian tactics. Concurrently, key institutions—including the Republican Party, federal courts, law enforcement agencies, and corporate entities—have either actively enabled this agenda or failed to mount meaningful resistance. This convergence has created a perilous environment in which marginalized communities, political opponents, and pro-democracy advocates face escalating threats. While the argument that widespread violence is now the “only option” remains contested, the structural conditions for such conflict—state-sanctioned repression, institutional collapse, and the mainstreaming of extremist ideologies—have undeniably intensified under MAGA’s influence.

Erosion of Democratic Norms and Authoritarian Consolidation

The Normalization of Authoritarian Governance
Since returning to office in 2025, Trump has accelerated efforts to centralize power, bypass congressional oversight, and redefine constitutional boundaries. His second inaugural address framed his presidency as a “liberation” from democratic constraints, declaring a national emergency at the southern border to justify sweeping executive actions 3 7. This rhetoric mirrors historical authoritarian playbooks, where crisis narratives legitimize the suspension of civil liberties. Trump’s administration has issued 26 executive orders in its first week alone, including attempts to reinterpret the 14th Amendment’s birthright citizenship clause and militarize immigration enforcement—actions legal scholars describe as “dictatorial theories of presidential power” 7 14. By asserting inherent constitutional authority to override statutes, Trump has effectively positioned the executive branch as unaccountable to legislative or judicial checks 7.

Project 2025 and the Weaponization of Bureaucracy
The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 blueprint has provided a roadmap for embedding MAGA loyalists across federal agencies, ensuring ideological conformity and dismantling institutional independence. Prospective hires undergo rigorous vetting for “MAGA enthusiasm,” including scrutiny of social media activity and demands to recount their “MAGA awakening” 2 13. This purge of non-loyalists—derided as “MAGA commissars” by critics—has paralyzed agencies like USAID, where political appointees have attempted abrupt closures of programs deemed ideologically incompatible 2 13. Such tactics extend Trump’s longstanding grievance against the “deep state,” reframing nonpartisan civil service as existential threats to his agenda.

.... very long analysis ....

Conclusion: Democracy at the Precipice
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. While Trump’s policies have created structural incentives for conflict—through dehumanization, militarized policing, and partisan capture of the state—history shows dictatorships often crumble under sustained nonviolent resistance. The path forward requires confronting MAGA’s ideological roots: white Christian nationalism, corporate oligarchy, and the myth of neoliberal meritocracy. Whether democracy survives depends not on abstract institutions but on collective courage to defend it—in streets, courts, and every contested space where power resides.

The alternative—resignation to violence as “the only option”—plays into MAGA’s hands, justifying further repression and eroding the moral high ground essential for lasting change. As Trump tests democracy’s limits, the response must be strategic, principled, and above all, rooted in solidarity that transcends the divisions his movement exploits.

Q2: How influential has MAGA-aligned American Christian nationalism been in the attacks on and erosion of democracy and the secular rule of law?

A2: The alliance between the MAGA movement and Christian nationalism has emerged as a transformative force in American politics, systematically undermining democratic institutions and secular governance. By weaving ultra-conservative religious ideology into policy frameworks, judicial appointments, and electoral strategies, this coalition has redefined political discourse, normalized authoritarian tactics, and destabilized the separation of church and state. The convergence of these forces—rooted in ethno-religious identity politics and anti-pluralist governance—has accelerated the erosion of democratic norms and secular legal foundations.

.... long analysis ....

Conclusion: Democracy at a Crossroads
The MAGA-Christian nationalist alliance has reshaped American governance, replacing pluralistic democracy with majoritarian theocracy. Through judicial capture, voter suppression, and cultural demonization, this movement has institutionalized policies that privilege a narrow ethno-religious minority over the broader populace. While resistance persists—via grassroots mobilization, legal challenges, and international scrutiny—the trajectory toward authoritarianism remains alarming.

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.

Q4: Some people have been trying to expose the fictional nature of djt and MAGA ever since djt won the GOP nomination for president in 2016. All of those warnings have failed miserably. The power of dishonest speech (demagoguery, divisive lies and slanders, etc.) seems to have overwhelmed the power of honest speech, which problem is made worse by the subversion of honest reporting by most of the professional news media. How can weak honest speech ever overcome the power of the demagogue's dishonest, divisive free speech?  

A4: The Asymmetric Battle: Demagoguery’s Resilience and the Paths to Restoring Epistemic Integrity
The ascendancy of Donald Trump and MAGA-aligned rhetoric since 2016 has exposed a fundamental asymmetry in modern political discourse: demagogic strategies leveraging dishonesty, division, and identity polarization consistently outmaneuver fact-based, pluralistic dialogue. This dynamic reflects not merely a failure of "honest speech" but systemic vulnerabilities in democratic institutions, media ecosystems, and collective psychology that demagogues exploit. To understand how truth-seeking discourse might regain traction, we must dissect the structural advantages of demagoguery and identify counterstrategies rooted in epistemic renewal, institutional reform, and narrative reclamation.

The Anatomy of Demagogic Dominance
1. Crisis of Legitimacy and the Authenticity Paradox
As Hahl, Kim, and Zuckerman Sivan’s research demonstrates, demagogues thrive in contexts where constituencies perceive political systems as illegitimate or unresponsive 3 5. MAGA’s core supporters—largely white, non-urban, and economically marginalized—view institutions (media, academia, federal agencies) as hostile to their interests. Trump’s lies function not as factual claims but as symbolic protests against this perceived illegitimacy 3. When he falsely asserts voter fraud or "deep state" conspiracies, he signals solidarity with supporters’ grievances, rendering factual rebuttals irrelevant. This creates an authenticity paradox: supporters dismiss contradictions because the demagogue’s defiance of norms embodies their resentment toward elites 3 13.

2. Emotional Resonance Over Rational Engagement

Demagoguery weaponizes affective polarization by simplifying complex issues into moral binaries. Patricia Roberts-Miller identifies this as framing politics as a battle between a virtuous "ingroup" (MAGA supporters) and a corrupt "outgroup" (liberals, immigrants, elites) 14 15. Trump’s rhetoric—e.g., labeling migrants "invaders" or opponents "vermin"—activates tribal instincts, making empirical counterarguments seem like attacks on identity 14. Emotional narratives (e.g., "America First") override analytical reasoning, a phenomenon amplified by social media algorithms prioritizing engagement over accuracy 6 9.

3. Institutional Subversion and Media Fragmentation
MAGA’s success stems partly from co-opting institutions meant to safeguard truth. The Federalist Society’s judicial appointments neutered checks on executive power, while right-wing media (Fox News, Newsmax) created an alternate epistemic reality 9 11. Meanwhile, mainstream outlets’ pursuit of "balance" often legitimizes false equivalencies (e.g., treating climate denial as a valid "side") 6. This fragmentation allows demagogues to dismiss unfavorable coverage as "fake news," exploiting declining public trust in media 9.

Why Honest Speech Fails: Structural Barriers
1. The "Truth Decay" Feedback Loop
Rand Corporation’s concept of "truth decay"—eroding agreement on facts—explains honest speech’s impotence. When parties inhabit separate information ecosystems (e.g., MSNBC vs. Breitbart), shared epistemic ground vanishes 6 9. Fact-checking Trump’s 30,573 documented falsehoods becomes futile, as corrections rarely reach his base and, when they do, reinforce distrust in "elite" sources 3 6.

2. The Demagogue’s Asymmetric Advantage
Demagogues face no obligation to coherence or consistency. They can promise incompatible policies (e.g., tax cuts and deficit reduction), blame failures on scapegoats, and pivot narratives daily. Honest actors, bound by factual accountability, cannot match this agility. As the "Checkers speech" showed, emotional appeals (e.g., Trump’s "They’re not after me, they’re after you") bypass logical scrutiny 4 13. (emphasis added)

3. The Attention Economy’s Incentives
Digital platforms reward outrage and novelty, not nuance. Trump’s inflammatory tweets garnered 6.1 billion impressions in 2020—free amplification that honest discourse cannot rival 9. Algorithms prioritize engagement, ensuring demagogic content spreads faster than corrections 6.

.... more analysis ....

Conclusion: The Long Game of Democratic Resilience
Demagoguery’s ascendancy reflects democracy’s paradoxical weakness: its openness to dissent allows anti-democratic forces to exploit its freedoms. Yet history shows demagogues’ reigns are often brittle—dependent on perpetual crisis and eroded by their own excesses (e.g., McCarthy’s downfall post Army-McCarthy hearings).

The MAGA movement’s reliance on gerrymandered minoritarianism and judicial overreach (e.g., Moore v. Harper) masks latent vulnerabilities 3 9. Its 2025 crackdowns—militarized border policies, criminalizing protests—have sparked bipartisan backlash, with libertarians and business elites withdrawing support 9.

Ultimately, honest speech’s power lies not in outshouting demagogues but in patiently rebuilding the civic fabric they tear: local journalism, cross-partisan dialogues, and institutions that visibly serve the public interest. As Habermasian deliberative models suggest, democracy’s best defense is a public sphere where reason and empathy prevail—not through force, but through relentless, collective recommitment to the messy work of pluralism 15.

Center: Democracy, truth & rule of law

Left and right: MAGA's lies & authoritarianism