Chaos is the cover

There have been a few more resignations by White House staffers. That leads to news stories about chaos in the White House. The nasty guy tweets that there is no chaos. That leads to lots of news stories refuting the nasty guy – yes, there is chaos.

Melissa McEwan of Shakesville, in a series of tweets, says these stories miss the point (again).

The corruption, the subversion of democratic norms and institutions, the erosion of civil rights, the bigotry, the march of authoritarianism. These are the areas of focus. Not the illusion of chaos.

And yes, it is an illusion of chaos. That this administration has precious few "successes" by traditional political metrics isn't relevant. Measuring this administration by traditional political metrics misses the point: This isn't a normal presidency.

Insisting on assessing the Trump White House and presidency using traditional political metrics treats this administration like is it normal. That helps them. They're happy to be assessed to be "failing" while succeeding wildly at reshaping U.S. politics altogether.

Amidst the "chaos," did you hear that two more of Trump's district court judges were confirmed yesterday? Fundamentally reshaping the judiciary continues apace.

How much have you heard about *how* Trump announced a fundamental shift in U.S. trade policy, vs. how much you've heard about the "chaos" regarding his announcement?

The revolving door on the front of the White House is far less important than the steady stream of burglars walking our democracy piece by piece out the back door.