What If It’s Already Too Late?
Institutional rot or ideological infection—either way, a real “Deep State” is already taking shape.
What if Trumpism waned, MAGA cracked up, the public rediscovered its commitment to liberalism, and . . . our institutions were already so corrupted that they were beyond repair?
It’s been a while, so let’s get dark. And I mean really dark.
1. Responsibility
Yesterday the treasury secretary appeared onstage with Aaron Ross Sorkin and acted as though he was auditioning for the Scott Jennings chair at CNN.
Secretary Scott Bessent blustered. He attacked the media and claimed that he no longer reads the New York Times because it dared to say that Donald Trump—the most powerful, virile, dynamic man since Liberace—is old and slowing down. Then, when asked about affordability, Bessent made things up. Here’s the exchange:
Bessent: [I]n a blue state, affordability is worse than a red state.
Ross Sorkin: We can debate that, but keep going—
Bessent: No, no, there’s no debate. The number is 50 basis points higher inflation. The ten highest inflation rates are in blue cities.
Ross Sorkin: But just so you know, because I went to look at this—this is the Joint Economic Committee—since 2021 the highest inflation of the past four years has been in red states, especially Florida.
Bessent: I’m talking about current. Current. Current, not over the past four years. . . . Today.
At this point, the audience laughed at the U.S. treasury secretary. I’m not sure people realize how dangerous it is for the SecTreas to be a laughingstock.
We’ll talk about why in a minute, but first I want you to consider the future. In May, President Trump will nominate the next chairman of the Federal Reserve. Bessent might get that job. If he does not, the gig could go to Kevin Hassett, who is a political hack like Bessent, only dumber.
What happens if Trump breaches the wall between the presidency and the central bank? What happens if the world understands that American fiscal policy is no longer being decided by an apolitical group of serious economists, but dictated by a geriatric conman through his puppet?
No one knows.
But stay with me, because that’s only the first danger.