Harry Gural

Lewisburg

At his nationally televised speech before Congress, President Trump bragged about his administration’s “swift and unrelenting action.” He is right about the speed — but it does nothing to “Make America Great Again.” Instead, it is a ruthless assault on the federal government and our 250-year-old democratic institutions.

Trump has empowered the richest man in the world, Elon Musk, to tear down the very foundations of government. Musk and his band of 20-something tech bros aren’t reinventing Washington — they’re pillaging it. They have stormed agencies, destroyed thousands of federal jobs, demolished critical programs, killed consumer protections and made off with the personal data of millions of Americans like smash-and-grab looters raiding an Apple store.

Lightning-fast demolition isn’t efficiency — it’s recklessness, like drunk teenager drivers weaving down Main Street at 120 miles per hour. Musk’s brilliant strategy is to “move fast and break stuff,” smashing things he barely understands and blindly firing experts responsible for safeguarding nuclear security, public health and national defense. Musk gleefully dismembers the government and wrecks people’s lives as if racking up kills in Quake.

Trump, meanwhile, is quickly proving that he is the master of disaster. In just weeks, he has ignited trade wars, rattled our economy, violated the constitution, threatened retribution against American citizens, sold out our allies and aided our worst adversaries. He races to enrich the rich, impoverish the poor and abandon the rest.

Velocity is no virtue when the destination is destruction. It’s time to hit the brakes.