It is good to see USA Today finally give this situation the attention and urgency that it deserves.

Oversight erased, Supreme Court hijacked: Trump turns the presidency into a dictatorship

This op-Ed puts his actions in their broader context
/1 https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2020/04/09/trump-removes-inspectors-general-blatant-corruption-column/2973535001/

As the article states, Atkinson wasn’t the only IG that Trump removed - nor the only one that he plans to.

He removed the IGs for Intelligence, for the HHS, and the Pentagon.

And he stated very clearly that this was just the beginning, with *seven* IGs on the chopping block.
/2

His war on oversight and checks & balances started 3 years ago when he fired Comey.

Incrementally, from ignoring subpoenas to convincing a cravenly complicit GOP to deny witnesses, he has chiseled away at the concept that he can be held accountable.

Acquittal emboldened him.
/3

As a people who have lived our lives in a secure society, we are practically hard-wired to rely on our institutions to protect us.

Envisioning a situation where our democracy doesn’t magically protect us is like an ant trying to imagine the other side of a balloon.
/4

The courts have long been considered the ultimate bulwark against the most egregious assaults on democracy.

But in recent weeks, SCOTUS has delayed hearing the cases that would reveal Trump’s damaging financial information, while they actively meddle in WI’s voting laws.

/5

This anxiety that we all feel is not imaginary.

There is a grating, jarring dissonance between our surface level politics and what is actually occurring behind the curtain.

It is past time we all recognize this as a war being waged against us, on three fronts.

/6

To understand this, first we have to understand the antisocial mindset behind organized criminal activity.

Perhaps the one unifying theory behind all organized crime is the “looking for an angle” approach to laws and systems.

This is antithetical to the fabric of society.
/7

To this mindset, everything is a potential loophole.

The things that developed societies view as strengths - the right to speak freely, the right to a fair trial, the decorum we adhere to in political chambers - are seen as weaknesses to be exploited.
/8

1)
The “loophole” that we call freedom of speech is being assaulted through Information Warfare.

Since freedom to speak is guaranteed, our enemies can “flood the zone” (Bannon’s words) with bad information - some of it useless/distracting, and some very harmful.

We see you.
/9

Examples of this are diverse.

There are voices of despair, intended to depress those who would otherwise act; there are intentional strategies, such as accusing others of your own actions, to blunt the outrage against outrageous behavior.

They are all IW tactics.
/10

2)
The “loophole” that we call the right to a fair trial is being exploited in a process called Lawfare.

It is the misuse of legal systems and principles against an enemy, such as by damaging or delegitimizing them, tying up their time or winning a public relations victory.

/11

In its most extreme, our enemies can install judges, and directly use the courts as a weapon against us.

But even tactics such as using the legal system as a dredge, to tie up and delay accountability for actions while carrying them out, are definitively Lawfare.
/12

3)
The “loophole” that we call political decorum and peaceful negotiation of power - “We may disagree on which paths to take, but I inherently presume that you want the best for our country, just as I do” - is being exploited through Political Warfare.

/13

We have seen striking examples of this in recent years.

No one recognized it for what it was when Gingrich used ethics investigations as tools in the 90s.

Some began to when McConnell cynically captured Obama’s SCOTUS nomination.

We all need to see this for what it is.
/14

It isn’t hyperbole to say that these are all being employed against us as tactics in a broader strategy to undermine all of these institutions.

1) Information Warfare
2) Legal Warfare/Lawfare
3) Political Warfare

So why is it so important to recognize these tactics?
/15

Because our enemies are united in pursuing their goals and, as things stand today, we are *not* united in defending against them, because we have not yet, as a society, explicitly recognized what we are fighting against.

Our media & pundit- and political-class are scattered.
/16

Each new breach of political ‘decorum;’ each new egregious lie; each new display of subservience by the courts, are all met with shock and outrage by those who have national platforms.

Those reactions are born of confusion.

They don’t inspire resolve; they foster paralysis.
/17

How do we avoid being repeatedly shocked and paralyzed by inexplicable behavior?

Simple: by understanding it, so it’s no longer inexplicable.

By recognizing its purpose - so instead of emotionally reacting, we can act rationally.
/18