From the NY Times' online front page, I give you a snapshot of reemergent American greatness.
First, there's the headline: "Texas Judge Strikes Down Obama’s Affordable Care Act as Unconstitutional," which compelled an outraged op-ed by two law professors of once-differing opinions on Obamacare: "We were on opposing sides of the 2012 and 2015 Supreme Court challenges to the Affordable Care Act.... But as experts in the field of statutory law, we agree that this decision makes a mockery of the rule of law and basic principles of democracy."
How did Trump, persistent critic of out-of-control, partisan judicial power, react (on Twitter, where else?) to this mockery of the law? "Wow, but not surprisingly, ObamaCare was just ruled UNCONSTITUTIONAL by a highly respected judge in Texas. Great news for America!"
Below the Obamacare story, there is this: "Ryan Zinke, Face of Trump Environmental Rollbacks, Is Leaving Interior Department." That headline was accompanied by another: "Zinke has faced more than 15 ethics inquiries; at least six are ongoing."
And below that is this: "Investors Have Nowhere to Hide as Stocks, Bonds and Commodities All Tumble." Reads the story's text: "For the first time in decades, every major type of investment has fared poorly, as the outlook for economic growth and corporate profits is dampened by rising trade tensions and interest rates."
Assuming one has the stomach to persevere, one would then encounter this headline: "How McKinsey Has Helped Raise the Stature of Authoritarian Governments." That would be McKinsey & Company, a global management consulting firm, which "At a time when democracies and their basic values are increasingly under attack, [is helping] raise the stature of authoritarian and corrupt governments across the globe, sometimes in ways that counter American interests."
It's a curious thing, this Make America Great Again slogan. That its agenda is in tatters is beyond dispute. Yet its unfolding is precisely what Trump promised the American electorate. Which means that Make American Great Again always meant make America lawless, unprincipled, economically precarious and capitalistically cutthroat — "sometimes in ways that counter American interests." This — all of it — was to be anticipated; still, it triumphed in the 2016 contest. Which further means that John Adams' remark was, perhaps, frighteningly prophetic: "There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide."