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Comment by InterestBazinga | Hacker News Reader

Are there going to be any consequences for this? If no, then it is such a betrayal of trust.

If you read about Steve Bannon, his plan for years is really to have people lose faith in government agencies and have them thought of as garbage, and then ultimately shut down. I'm not sure this is some great conspiracy or just a bunch of scumbags at work here, but like I say there are major well financed efforts to actually make the FCC, EPA, etc look stupid, and appear to be run by idiots. Appointing incompetent people to them, is the plan by some of these folks like Bannon.

HUD, DoE (both of them), etc... ;-(

Invoking Steve Bannon is unnecessary: "losing faith in government" has been the Republican Party goal since Nixon.

"Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem."

President Ronald Reagan, in his first inaugural address.

Arguably a misquotation, probably misleading absent the context, and definitely an incomplete quotation.

Speaking narrowly and specifically about the economic crisis and stagflation of the late 70s:

In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem. From time to time we've been tempted to believe that society has become too complex to be managed by self-rule, that government by an elite group is superior to government for, by, and of the people.

The surrounding context doesn't really change/clarify that core message very much.

It does, it is saying the government had been the cause of the economic crisis of the time, not that it was generally the problem of all things.

the context makes it ironic even, considering they benefit from that exact sentiment to be elected.

I'd argue that Nixon wasn't in that boat, he actually supported formation of the EPA and such. Nixon's big contribution to the Republicans was his southern strategy (use of racism to win a previously Democrat south) and mis-application of domestic espionage.

Americans have already lost faith in government. There is a belief Bezos will save healthcare now. It seems Capitol Hill's main occupation is sabotaging and crippling the nation.

Notably, in the countries that the US administration seems to suddenly love now, such as Russia, government agencies are indeed regarded as garbage, but that only leads to more and more centralization of power. Because, you know, the tsar must step in and bring his underlings to order.

Some of us believe federal regulatory agencies are unconstitutional due to their ability to interpret laws (isn't that the Legislative branch's job?).

EPA, FCC, and their ilk have no obligation to represent the opinion of the people.

Federal agencies are given a blank check to interpret (write) laws without any real checks and balances.

> Some of us believe federal regulatory agencies are unconstitutional due to their ability to interpret laws (isn't that the Legislative branch's job?).

No, interpreting laws is the judicial branches role (as the ultimate decision point), but it's also essential to executive functioning (as you get apply or execute a law without first interpreting it.)

> EPA, FCC, and their ilk have no obligation to represent the opinion of the people.

Neither does Congress or the President.

> Federal agencies are given a blank check to interpret (write) laws without any real checks and balances.

“Interpret” does not mean “write”, and both the adjudicative/interpretive and regulation-writing functions of agencies are constrained by judicial review (of both) and both advance and responsive (Congressional Review Act) constraint by Congress (for the regulatory function.)

Betrayal of trust can be all part of the plan when your platform goes hand-in-hand with the idea that government is the problem rather than a solution (and you can make the best effort to prove it when you get elected).

That's pretty much Putin's textbook. Spread so much misinformation that people stop believing anything. That creates the climate for the strongman to come and drain the swamp.

Oh. Come on now. The system is designed for misinformation and manipulation. The difference this time was who - alledged - pulled the strings.

The USA's IC has a long and not so pretty history of misinformation. The fact that you're so quick to point at Putin only proves the USA IC is as slick and effective as ever.

I believe the Putin reference isn't about the recent paranoia about Russian interference, but about a how this specific tactic was pioneered by an advisor to Putin: Vladislav Surkov

A nice summary is here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Od4MWs7qTr8

And I believe, with plenty of historical evidence to support it, that the USA's IC propaganda machine predates Putin's.

The fact is, for example, we recently flew right past the anniversary of the Pentagon Papers and for some reason the USA MSM was more concerned with Stormy Daniels or some other pointless minutia. This is no accident.

Again. Just one example. Anyone who can connect two dots can find plenty more.

Correct. This strategy has been used before but I mentioned Putin because he has perfected it. I see the same tendency in Trump with his "fake news".

Yep - the effect is ultimately the same, however I'm not convinced that in Trump's case it is deliberate. There's a lot of talk from right that he's some visionary playing "fourth dimensional chess" but I think he's just an impulsive person who just doesn't put a great deal of thought into what he says other than the simple phrases he knows will land with his target audience ("lyin' ted", "crooked hillary", "fake news", "make america great again" etc)

"who just doesn't put a great deal of thought into what he says"

Don't underestimate Trump. He is a brilliant propagandist. He knows exactly what he is doing when it comes to his public perception. His while career has been about selling his image.

Maybe earlier in life, there's nothing brilliant coming from him now. He is old and confused and important functions are delegated. He's a symbol.

He certainly won the presidential election against all odds. I think that's pretty impressive. Being a good self promoter doesn't mean that you are a good president though.

Crooked Hillary was a term that he was advised to use by someone at Cambridge Analytica, or they claimed to have given it to him anyway.

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