Reading · Democraticus- The Democratist

Cast of WGN-TV Chicago’s long running TV show, The Bozo Show, in 1968. From left to right: Ringmaster Mr. Ned (Ned Locke), Mr. Bob the Band Leader (Bob Trendler), Bozo (Bob Bell), Oliver O. Oliver (Ray Rayner), and Sandy (Don Sandberg). From Wikipedia.

Democraticus is a free publication intended to promote democracy as well as equip citizens to be active participants in it. Democraticus also is meant to educate as well as sound the alarm when democracy is under attack as it is today in the U.S. and other parts of the world. It depends on readers like you to promote it, so please connect your friends and family with this post and encourage them to subscribe to Democraticus!

As they say, “the chickens are coming home to roost.” Or, “the cows are comin’ in for milking.” Or, maybe it’s “you reap what you sow.”

Whichever farming related phraseology you like (or any other kind that you prefer), based on the federal government’s current circumstances in this nation, it’s quite appropriate to pick one. Any of these phrases will do. Simply pick one that, for you the reader, best describes the condition of the United States’ federal government under the second Trump Administration. Chances are pretty good that a majority of folks will know what you mean by it.

What is clearly evident, regardless of one’s political philosophy or affiliations, is that the current “war on expertise” conducted by the MAGA Republican Party and the second Trump Administration is having profound and real consequences on all Americans. This impact is occurring whether or not we wish to acknowledge, accept, or agree with it. It makes no difference.

It’s happening now.

In the July 11^th Democraticus, we covered the Trump Administration’s and MAGA’s aversion to expertise and the reasons for it, as well as many Americans’ aversion to and tendency to reject advice from experts. Bottom line- Trump has leveraged our national collective expertise aversion because he doesn’t want any expertise but his own in his presidency. Other expertise distracts and diverts attention from his role as the supreme ruler, the sole possessor of all knowledge, wisdom, and correct decisions. Most importantly, such expertise might offer different views than his. And horror of horrors- those views might not agree with Trump’s or not go along with something that’s politically expedient for him.

Trump’s response to his war on expertise has been to nominate and appoint massively unqualified people to key Cabinet positions (see the Democraticus Cabinet Qualifications? We Don’t Need No Stinkin’Qualifications! ). These are the “clowns” affecting our nation.

And, the “joke” is on us.

Such a leadership approach has profound consequences for an organization as large as the U.S. federal government’s Executive Branch. It prevents the selection of key advisors to the president that are serious people who have any real knowledge, actual success, or experience in the departments and professional fields they are charged to direct, operate in, and regulate.

Instead, this style of leadership fosters and allows to take hold a culture of incompetence creating an “echo chamber” which tells the president only what he wants to hear. Any alternative ideas, opinions, or information that doesn’t fit with views held by the president are ignored and dismissed. This line of thinking extends down the line not only from the president to his cabinet members, but from those cabinet members to their direct reports and beyond in the chain of command. It extends even into members of the President’s own party in Congress.

A clown-like culture of incompetence grows its toxicity both from within and without. Competency and making good decisions is not encouraged or rewarded. In fact, it is discouraged and dismissed, and very well may cost someone their job. The result? Cognitive biases such as confirmation bias, Groupthink, and anchoring bias (i.e., relying too heavily on the first piece of information received to make a judgement) begin to dominate decision making).

There is no one left who will call out these Administration “blind spots,” or point to the potential downsides of an option the president wishes to pursue. There is no one left feeling free to dissent, to offer the “minority opinion” which is to say “this is not a good idea” and why it’s not good. No one is there to tell the boss how ludicrous something is that the president wants to do.

The only job of those remaining is to offer advice and comments that agree with and thus endear them to the president, or certainly not contradict him and risk “hacking him off.” No one is willing to say “we are about to drive off a cliff here.” This results not only in bad decision making, but in a failure to recruit competent talent. Who gets hired? Just more of the same incompetence with the same sycophantic tendencies.

This is a dangerous way to attempt to lead a nation. To see why, all one has to do is review the track record of President Trump’s Cabinet appointees since the start of his second term in 2025. The evidence of incompetence and poor decision making in this Administration is extensive. How much time does the reader have to review it? Joking of course, but we will try to hit on some of the most egregious examples of this incompetence in action showing the ways it impacts the lives of Americans.

Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer barely made it a year in her post in the second Trump presidency before resigning amidst an internal investigation. Complaints were being investigated regarding her alleged misconduct regarding an affair with a subordinate, drinking while on the job, and traveling at taxpayer expense to visit friends and family.

Shortly before DeRemer’s departure, controversial Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem resigned after she testified before Congress receiving heavy scrutiny about her agency’s $220 million ad campaign. The ads targeted undocumented immigrants featuring a tough “wild west” Noem on horseback and were done by a firm with connections to Noem when she was South Dakota’s governor. Noem even testified to Congress that President Trump was aware of this ad campaign (probably not a good thing for her to say). Further, at this same hearing Noem and her agency were heavily criticized for a pause in funding as Congress held a bipartisan review of her agency and her leadership. These hearings included examination of her agency’s controversial handling of immigration enforcement surges in major cities like Minneapolis which resulted in two deadly civilian shootings by federal agents in January 2026.

Attorney General Pam Bondi lasted one month longer than Noem before Trump removed her in April of this year. According to NPR, Bondi’s “… departure comes amid frustration over her leadership and handling of the Epstein files.” Further, regarding Bondi’s departure, according to NPR justice correspondent Carrie Johnson:

“…The irony is that she tried to advance criminal cases against Trump’s perceived enemies, but judges and grand juries in many cases did not seem to be buying that. Cases against the former FBI Director Jim Comey, New York Attorney General Tish James - those got thrown out. Another grand jury refused to indict Democratic lawmakers who made a video telling service members to follow their oaths and disobey illegal orders. But Trump wanted to see more, more - cases against California Senator Adam Schiff, former CIA Director John Brennan. The problem is there may not be evidence to do that. Traditionally, prosecutors need to be confident they’d win a conviction before they bring any kind of case.” (emphasis mine)

This pretty well explains why it should be no surprise that Pam Bondi is no longer the U.S. Attorney General under Trump.

But the mistakes of this clown show caused by incompetence were only starting. As stated by MS Now news commentator Ali Velshi, in selecting his top leadership for his second administration, Donald Trump prioritized “fealty and showmanship over experience and skill.”

It’s a close contest, but FBI Director Kash Patel certainly provides proof of being able to satisfy such job requirements. Patel “…has alarmed colleagues with episodes of excessive drinking and unexplained absences.” Patel’s decisions and management style have drawn intense public scrutiny and criticism from lawmakers and former law enforcement officials. These include disbanding the FBI’s Integrity and Anti-Corruption Units, and retaliation allegations from former senior FBI officials who have filed wrongful termination lawsuits against Patel and DOJ leadership. The suits allege that high-level FBI firings were politically motivated retributions against those who worked on past investigations involving Donald Trump.

Further, Patel cut FBI counterintelligence staffing and has faced strong criticism for his handling of the aftermath of the Charlie Kirk assassination investigation, notably choosing to dine at an exclusive New York restaurant shortly after the event and delaying field actions while reportedly demanding specific tactical raid gear upon arrival at the Utah crime scene. Patel has undergone scrutiny under the STOCK Act after failing to timely disclose a six-figure individual stock purchase in MicroStrategy—a tech intelligence firm that holds active contracts with the Department of Justice.

Since assuming his current position at the FBI, Patel has been accused of misuse of government resources involving assigning FBI agents to be his girlfriend’s personal security detail, as well as using the government’s FBI jet to take him to destinations solely for his personal use and pleasure (such as to the Olympics in Italy). Although Patel had criticized his predecessor for use of this jet for personal business (the FBI Director must be available at all times for emergencies), he thoroughly defended his own use of this same jet for personal use. Things change when it’s you that’s in the “hot seat,” right? After all this has come to light since he’s become FBI Director, Patel still maintains that “I am a steward of the taxpayer dollars.” He apparently means that.

Then there’s Pete Hegseth, the former Fox weekend news anchor with no senior level military experience who is now Trump’s Secretary of Defense. He calls himself “Secretary of War,” but statutorily that is not his official title (nor the title used to swear him in). Mr. Pete’s missteps have been so numerous it’s difficult to know where to begin. Right “out of the box” early in his tenure Hegseth brought us what is known now as “signalgate” where a group of senior Administration officials (including the Vice President) were “…observed on a group chat using the Signal messaging service, conversing about imminent military operations against the Houthis in Yemen...” The problem was that not only was this means of communication not secure, it allowed the Editor-in-Chief of the Atlantic magazine to be added (inadvertently?) by then National Security Advisor Mike Walz! Then, new Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth used the chat “…to share sensitive and classified details of the impending airstrikes, including types of aircraft and missiles, as well as launch and attack times.”

Oops! Predictably, this caused a hailstorm of criticism of Hegseth spotlighting his inexperience in his role as Secretary of Defense (or as Pete calls it, Secretary of War) . But, it’s snowballed since then ranging from Hegseth’s dismissals of senior military officers to ordering the use of testosterone treatments in the military. Hegseth has been responsible for the removal of more than two dozen senior military officers since taking the helm at the Pentagon. He’s also blocked promotions across all three service branches as well as intervened in several senior officers’ assignments, including those of Black men and females. By Hegseth’s order, testosterone testing of military personnel will start next year. As they say in the military, “ten-hut!,” Attention! You go Secretary Pete- build that testosterone up!

But, since February criticism of Hegseth has gotten much bigger as we launched a war with Iran, a war Hegseth’s boss started and the purported cause for which keeps changing. This is, as the Trump Administration is learning, a complex war which could use some senior level military experience and expertise. But, Hegseth has gotten rid of much of that. Oh well…

Nevertheless, loyal Secretary Pete is standing by the President. This, even though we have had 18 of our servicemen and women killed in connection with this war so far. This, even though the morale, supply shortages, and working conditions on the aircraft carrier U.S. Abraham Lincoln, which is in the thick of this conflict, are reportedly deplorable due to its continuous deployment with reports of sailors attempting to jump overboard due to the mental stress. This, even though we have had bases and military sites in the region destroyed and damaged by Iranian counter missile attacks (accurate counts from the Department of Defense vary). This, even though the Strait of Hormuz, which was open before this war to all shipping carrying 20% of the world’s oil, is now closed due to Iranian attacks and our Navy’s blockade of Iran.

And this, even though we are using our missile stock in this war at an alarming rate, although Hegseth and the President don’t seem to in agreement on this issue. The result has been media reports that our munitions, especially interceptor missiles, are seriously depleted leaving us at risk in other parts of the world to defend our interests and allies (think China and Taiwan and Russia and Ukraine). But don’t worry, the person who should be encouraging strategic thinking before going to war (i.e., the President) tells us we have plenty of missiles. Maybe it’s time to find someone who can accurately count and inventory our weaponry. Oh, and by the way, Hegseth says he needs an additional $88 billion to continue fighting this war against Iran that we (i.e., Trump) started. Our Senators are reportedly angry and gob smacked over this request.

We still haven’t gotten to the incompetence in the second Trump administration related to using the Department of Justice to pursue Trump’s political enemies. There’s Jeanine Pirro, another former Fox Network television personality, who is now the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. Pirro has, much to her boss’s consternation, failed to get indictments (much less guilty verdicts) for such heinous crimes as supposed vandalism to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, as President Trump alleges.

This being a reflecting pool that Trump had purportedly refurbished and painted “swimming pool blue” with a “no bid contract” (i.e., non-competitive handpicked unqualified vendor) which produced a botched job. It began leaking and manifested a huge algae infestation turning it bright green shortly after the unqualified contractor finished his work. Pirro pursued a bogus indictment against a former Olympian (David Hearn) for allegedly cutting a seam in the pool’s liner.

However, recently even Pirro had to concede how bogus this indictment was, moving to dismiss it, and blaming the problems on something most of us call “the truth”. That is, Pirro conceded the reflecting pool was leaking and full of algae due to shoddy workmanship, not vandalism. Of course, that admission has really “torqued” the President, claiming that Pirro “choked.”

After this debacle Pirro, in what appears to be an effort to placate Trump over her Reflecting Pool indictment dismissal now “…is leading a special grand jury that could be used to investigate the president’s political enemies, according to The Washington Post. Such a secretive special grand jury could be used to draft damaging reports about Trump’s critics, including current and former Democratic officials. The subject and scope of the special grand jury’s inquiry is unclear…”

This willingness to use our judicial system by incompetents for such blatantly political purposes should put all Americans on “red alert.”

So, do you still think none of this impacts you? How can it not? When the “clowns” are running our government, nothing good happens. Mistakes occur, many of which are born out of vindictiveness, and some of those errors consume resources and can cost a lot of taxpayer dollars. It can even cost American lives. There is even more incompetence underway. such as our “diplomatic corps” conducting our nation’s Iran War negations, none of whom are trained professional international diplomats. But, that is a huge subject unto itself.

This is why expertise matters. This is why competence created by expertise matters. That is why we should care about the caliber of talent that is appointed by our President to run our government and the caliber of their conduct. This is a big deal and we should hold our government accountable to do better.

Much better.

PS admittedly, this post’s documentation (“the receipts”) is extensive, but I wanted the reader to see the evidence from which the conclusions of this Democraticus are based on, all of which is publicly available. Please peruse them.

Notes:

· Another “War”- the War Against Expertise

· Seeing What We Want to See: How Cognitive Biases Distort Security Assessments

· Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer out amid misconduct investigation : NPR

· The Incompetence Undermining Trump’s Agenda

· WATCH: Kennedy questions Noem about using taxpayer money for ad campaign featuring her prominently | PBS News

· Trump fires Kristi Noem as homeland security secretary : NPR

· List: ICE and Border Patrol shootings as Trump doubles down on immigration enforcement

· Trump removes Pam Bondi as attorney general : NPR

· Kash Patel’s Erratic Behavior Could Cost Him His Job - The Atlantic

· Kash Patel - Wikipedia

· HON Pete Hegseth > U.S. Department of War > Biography | U.S. Department of War