At his nationally televised speech before Congress, President Trump bragged about his administration’s “swift and unrelenting action.” He is right about the speed – but it is not a campaign to “Make America Great Again.” It is a ruthless assault on the federal government and our 250-year-old democratic institutions.
Trump has unleashed the richest man in the world, Elon Musk, to tear down the very foundations of government. Musk and his band of twenty-something tech bros aren’t reinventing Washington – they’re pillaging it. They have stormed agencies, indiscriminately detonated thousands of federal jobs, taken a wrecking ball to critical programs, slashed consumer protections, and made off with the personal data of millions of Americans like smash-and-grab looters raiding an Apple store.
Lightning-speed demolition isn’t a mark of efficiency – it’s a sign of recklessness, like drunk teenage drivers weaving down Main Street at 120 miles per hour. Musk’s strategy is to “move fast and break stuff,” smashing things he barely understands, dismembering institutions, blindly firing experts responsible for safeguarding nuclear security, public health, and national defense – all while praising his supposed progress. Musk is as gleeful wrecking people’s lives as racking up kills in Quake.
Trump, meanwhile, is racing to prove he is the master of disaster. He has ignited trade wars, rattled our economy, violated the constitution, dismantled democratic institutions, and undermined our allies – while lavishing praise on our enemies. He is speeding to enrich the rich, impoverish the poor, and abandon the rest.
Velocity is no virtue when the destination is destruction.
PUBLISHED in DAILY ITEM 3/13/2025 – under Harry Gural