The Donald's Dirigisme

On January 7, The Hill reported:

“During a White House meeting, Rockwall County, Texas, Sheriff Harold Eavenson told the president about a lawmaker who was offering asset forfeiture legislation he believes would aid Mexican drug cartels. 

“Who is the state senator? Do you want to give his name? We'll destroy his career," Trump offered. 

It turned out to be the Conservative and female Texas district Senator in Fort Worth, Konni Burton. She responded to the threat:  She “has filed a bill eliminating civil asset forfeiture, and has issued a statement defending her push.

‘Property rights are one of the foundational rights in any free society and the taking of property by government is no small matter’, Burton said, adding, ‘I will not be discouraged or deterred. The moment for reform of our system of asset forfeiture has arrived.’

The Senator also took a shot at the the man who touched off the controversy–saying “I have never met with Sheriff Eavenson, nor even heard of him before yesterday.’”

When the President learned that Nordstrom’s department store had decided to pull his daughter’s fashion line from their stores, he angrily tweeted: “My daughter Ivanka has been treated so unfairly by @Nordstrom. She is a great person – always pushing me to do the right thing! Terrible.”

The next day, Trump’s top advisor, Kellyanne Conway doubled down by publicly plugging Ivanka’s products. After an immediate uproar, Press Secretary Sean Spicer announced that Conway had been “counseled” concerning the mistake.

Did President Trump receive counseling as well? Curious minds want to know.

Were these mere faux-pas by inexperienced politicians who don’t see a problem with picking winners and losers in the private sector?

Do representatives of this administration need verbal babysitters? If our elected officials and their representatives don’t know the difference between running reactionary defense maneuvers and promoting political digisme (economic planning and control by the state), we’re in for a wild ride.

Are these merely ignorant missteps, or is Trump’s administration clearly revealing its true nature? After all, wasn’t his campaign, directed by Kellyanne Conway, actually running on the “refreshing” premise that Trump was “just saying what was in his head"?

Why should we interpret his words differently, now that he’s elected? Has he stopped telling us what he really thinks? Or, is he telling us exactly what he really believes?

Neither conclusion is reassuring.