The high price of crying fraud!

[Zorro]

Once you have established yourself as a capricious and unreliable partner, you won’t be trusted again.

Seminal is a strong word. It means that when an event is seminal, nothing will ever be the same again.

Elon Musk and his marauding young minions will leave the United States damaged in ways that won’t be easily put right, toppling the country from the position it has held so long as the world’s pillar of decency, generosity and law. As President Ronald Reagan said, “a shining city on a hill.”

Every day, the small but deadly Musk force, authorized and encouraged by President Trump, is tarnishing that image.

Once you have established yourself as a capricious and unreliable partner, you won’t be trusted again; trust lost defies repair. It doesn’t come back with an apology, a course correction or a change of administration. It is gone, sometimes for centuries. Distrust is enduring.

Treaties torn up today are treaties that won’t be written tomorrow. Disavowing America’s commitments is a Trump hallmark. Tearing up these commitments is more than an indication of instability; it is a burden on the future and a doubt about the sincerity of our handshake.

https://www.tampabay.com/opinion/2025/02/15/high-price-crying-fraud-column/

This same sentiment also applies to the relationship our government has with the citizens. Trump and his fellow Republicans are intent on so thoroughly corrupting the executive and judicial branches that future generations will reflexively distrust government agencies and their policies. Their goal has been to make Reagan's "government help" statement the reality and they are succeeding.