There is one simple reason why I believe Americans, no matter their political affiliation, should not be focused on tariffs, cabinet nominees, USAID, or any number of pressing issues of our time. But rather, the focus should be clear:
Above all else, the United States is not free trade, our borders, our foreign policy and aid, free speech, civil rights, the Second Amendment, or even Democracy. None of those things even exist if we lose what the United States “is.”
The United States, at its core, is separation of power; and the ability of those separate powers to check and balance each other.
This is why Congress owns the budget, but the President is the commander in chief. Why we have an independent Federal Reserve. And the Senate filibuster. Why the House votes to impeach, but the Senate votes to convict. Why the Supreme Court can invalidate congressional laws and orders. But only Congress can pass amendments that the Supreme Court can’t touch.
These are real powers that do not overlap. Which has apparently frustrated Trump, because authoritarians hate decentralized power. Because decentralized power means decentralized control, and control is what authoritarians crave.
And this is where Musk has come in: Trump created a temporary loophole using an executive order to give Musk control over parts of the government that even Trump doesn’t have. This is why Musk is working so fast: sleeping in the OPM offices and moving sofas in, working around the clock. He knows his time will be cut short. And here is why we must ensure that this happens:
Before every failed state, is a consolidation of power. Because once power is consolidated, it is incredibly easy to steal. A single title becomes too enticing for the worst among us to resist. Which ultimately leads to a perpetual death spiral of revolution and power grabs.
Elon Musk, an unelected, foreign-born, billionaire is the guy who is trying to make that happen. Which is why the only thing I care to see from Congress right now is the overturning of the executive order that created DOGE.
At that point, Musk must be tried and convicted of the crimes he is committing currently. And after Trump inevitably pardons him, his citizenship must be revoked and he must be deported like the threat to national security that he is.
