The government has been captured; we’re now in active decay

1. Litmus Tests

Trump is no longer merely pushing constitutional norms; he’s openly dismissing them. When he says “I don’t know” if due process applies to everyone, and when Miller floats suspending habeas corpus, we’re past warning bells and into litmus test territory for martial law.

The administration is deliberately irritating courts, daring them to act—and ignoring rulings when they do. That level of impunity marks a new, darker gear.

2. Nepo-Babies

Dropping in Fox News personalities, anti-vax influencers, and nepotistic picks into core governance roles (e.g. Jeanine Pirro, Casey Means) shows a shift from ideological capture to operational decay. Not just loyalists - incompetent ones.

This is a signal of late stage authoritarian regimes that can no longer attract capable bureaucrats and instead double down on purity and spectacle.

Expect government services to get worse, quickly.

3. Strugs to Func

We’ve now seen:

• Multiple radar blackouts, wing clips and crashes at major airports.
• Mass layoffs replacing humans with AI in government roles at scale.
• Loss of institutional knowledge as career officials are fired or resign.

Authoritarianism tends to erode trust, but it’s now eroding function. That’s when things break down fast.

4. Overreach is the New Black

Encouragingly, courts are beginning to rule more aggressively against the administration. But enforcement is another matter. Trump is ignoring them, or dragging his feet, showing that legal wins don’t yet translate into accountability. That disconnect emboldens further overreach.

5. Normalizing the Unreal

AI-generated pope images. Tariffs proposed based on Jon Voight meetings. High-level officials hoarding toilet paper and giving Gollum-like monologues on Fox News. These would’ve been scandalous even last year—but now they pass without uproar.

That’s dangerous. It means the outrageous is becoming expected, and democratic norms are dying.

This is decay in combination with mental rewrites. The regime is attempting to overwrite what democracy is in the minds of the public. Things like who gets rights, what counts as law, and who counts as American.

Unless structural resistance emerges soon (e.g. from military, civil service unions, or coordinated international pressure), the national decline is only going to worsen, steeply.