A self-belief from Donald Trump has bolstered both himself and his administration to make questionable, self-serving risks, according to one analyst.
The president's recent actions in Venezuela and Greenland have led to some political commentators suggesting the admin has taken liberties with world politics and domestic issues. Writing in Salon, Heather Digby Parton said that Trump can now "rule completely by whim" because of the precedent he has set in office.
She wrote, "He is not interested in ideology or philosophy. The president believes in himself and himself alone, and he has been so successful at evading all accountability for everything he’s done in his life that he sees himself as invulnerable."
This has set a standard, too, for those in the administration. She added, "We’ve witnessed the capitulation of the Republican Party and institutions such as law firms, media companies and universities, and we’ve observed opportunists playing the system for their own ends — all of which proves that, for all their world-weary skepticism about humanity’s inherent virtue, the founders greatly overestimated the strength of the average politician or the businessman’s ego and ambition."
"They thought those who were in competing spheres of power would fight for their own prerogatives, but it’s clear that’s actually quite a rare occurrence when it comes to facing down a tyrant. The most ambitious among them just want a piece of the action."
"The real courage is coming from ordinary people on the streets who are facing down Trump’s secret police and brandishing nothing more than cell phones to document the officers’ savage behavior."
"It may just be that the average citizens who are brave enough to fight for their prerogatives to pursue life, liberty and happiness are the honorable leaders Plato believed were the only ones capable of running a virtuous state."
"If so, this suggests that while democracy may have its weaknesses, it is also the best hope for saving itself."