It’s time to face the harsh realities of autocracy
An Opinion piece in the Arizona Daily Star
Published October 7, 2025
The following is the opinion and analysis of the writer:
by Jason Makansi
Any strategy to alter America’s governing predicament must account for reality. To quote from Cool Hand Luke, it’s time to “git yer mind right.”
First, the Supreme Court is comprised of ultra-conservative Justices groomed by the Federalist Society over several decades to champion the Unitary Executive (or imperial presidency). Most lawsuits that buck the President’s orders in lower courts will not stand. SCOTUS immunized the President from most crimes committed while in office. Lower court lawsuits alleging illegal Presidential behavior will likely not stand. If they do, what armed authority will make him comply?
Second, the President can pardon criminals convicted in federal court, including crimes committed carrying out the President’s wishes.
Third, Congress is run by the President’s party. Virtually every member of that party either accepts the President’s behaviors or runs scared of his sway over their voters.
Fourth, the President is Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, including our vast nuclear arsenal. No Congress has had an appetite for checking Presidential power in this area for decades.
Fifth, the President appoints heads of Administrative branches and Cabinet, subject to Congress’ approval (see three, above). The current appointments are loyalists, to carry out the President’s orders, not implement policy in the best interests of the Party, much less the country. Should the television talking heads and other loyalists now running the Pentagon, Justice, FBI, State, Health & Human Services, and others commit federal crimes carrying out the President’s orders, see two, above.
Finally, the President can declare vaguely defined “national emergencies.” What might these be? Protests in “blue” cities? The 2026 midterm elections? Farmers devastated by the President’s tariffs? Organized protest against the President’s agenda? If you think Congress will intervene, see three, above.
The President wants to replace the Chairman of the Federal Reserve. The “Fed” steers the economy by moving interest rates up and down. Debt fuels economic growth whether it’s your mortgage or a conglomerate’s loan package. A loyalist at the Fed means the President holds dominion over the economy (not just government spending).
Having the dollar as the world’s reserve currency is the soft “stick” with which the US achieves hegemony over countries we don’t like. No one will rescue us should the dollar’s value collapse as the President reconstitutes the Post-WWII world order.
Seeds for unilateral Presidential actions were sown by both parties through the War on Drugs, the War on Terror, and, most acutely, the Bush/Cheney Patriot Act. The current President exploits these powers, once used mostly geopolitically, for his personal domestic agenda.
Our economy is now an oligarchy, critical sectors dominated by a few huge conglomerates. These conglomerates have little choice but “make nice with power.” If you think that is capitulating, remember, your investment-retirement portfolio depends on these companies’ fiduciary duty to grow their stock prices. Similar for institutions relying on federal funding.
The goals of the current President are not Republican, conservative, cultural, geopolitical, or ideological. They are narcissistic, autocractic, financial, and vengeful. To achieve his maniacal goals, he champions goals of the groups supporting him.
The opposition coalition mostly believes elections will change Washinton’s balance of power. They raise money from engaged voters by texting and emailing the “outrage of the day” dispatched from profit-driven “media” organizations keeping their audiences “enraged.” Candidates are put up who uphold the same centrist philosophies their voters rejected in earlier elections. Their elites who have left traditional media organizations for podcasting are busy over-intellectualizing about the state of the country.
When you “git yer mind right,” you might feel like Butch and Sundance: “Who are those guys?” They are people who have left unethical, immoral, and corrupt in the dust and are now legally protected from illegal behavior. People who pretended it was about taxes, states rights, the deficit, etc.
It may not be time to move to Bolivia, but it is time for counter-strategies that accept reality.
Oh, and funny thing about Butch and Sundance. They were criminals. The American media entertainment complex has conditioned us to love those two, not the legal authorities chasing them.
Jason Makansi holds a BS in chemical engineering and is the author of professional books, short stories, and novels and, after a forty-five-year career, is a retired (mostly) independent consultant serving the global energy and electricity industries.