The single most important defining characteristic of an authoritarian dictatorship is that the authoritarian leader uses the power of the state to maintain his own personal power. This is something that "divided government" - three separate branches of government that are coequal - was designed to prevent.

Mike Pompeo lied to a reporter on the air, and then screamed obscenities at her afterwards. A few days later, he refused to allow another reporter from NPR on the state department airplane in punishment. Donald Trump just praised this behavior, Saying "You did a good job on her," as if it was some sort of a physical assault.

As a possible pandemic looms on the horizon, the United States is the only developed nation in the world without a national healthcare system. Medicare For All is not just about saving as much as half of all of our half healthcare dollars, it's also about national security.

The revelations in John Bolton's book, reported in today's New York Times, bring to mind the previous scandal surrounding a White House cover-up.