Just yesterday, Axios carried a piece provocatively entitled "A radical plan for Trump's second term."

The following are key excerpts from the article:

The heart of the plan is derived from an executive order known as "Schedule F," developed and refined in secret over most of the second half of Trump's term and launched 13 days before the 2020 election. (snip)

Trump signed an executive order, "Creating Schedule F in the Excepted Service," in October 2020, which established a new employment category for federal employees. It received wide media coverage for a short period, then was largely forgotten in the mayhem and aftermath of Jan. 6 — and quickly was rescinded by Biden.

Sources close to Trump say that if he were elected to a second term, he would immediately reimpose it.

Tens of thousands of civil servants who serve in roles deemed to have some influence over policy would be reassigned as "Schedule F" employees. Upon reassignment, they would lose their employment protections. (snip)

An initial estimate by the Trump official who came up with Schedule F found it could apply to as many as 50,000 federal workers — a fraction of a workforce of more than 2 million…. (snip)

Even if Trump did not deploy Schedule F to this extent, the very fact that such power exists could create a significant chilling effect on government employees.

It would effectively upend the modern civil service, triggering a shock wave across the bureaucracy. The next president might then move to gut those pro-Trump ranks — and face the question of whether to replace them with her or his own loyalists or revert to a traditional bureaucracy. (snip)

Such pendulum swings and politicization could threaten the continuity and quality of service to taxpayers, the regulatory protections, the checks on executive power, and other aspects of American democracy.

To sum it up, this is Trump's plan to take on the Deep State bureaucracy, purging it of the sort of partisan officials who torpedoed many of his initiatives in his first term.

But there is also the Washington Democrat Establishment that Trump refers to as the swamp, made up of politicians, interest groups, and donors, in addition to Deep State bureaucrats.  The swamp is the core of every problem within the U.S. political system.

It begins with elections.

If a relatively unknown but well-meaning candidate wants to run for office, the swamp places numerous impediments before him. 

The first impediment is funding.  The candidate first needs to raise millions to fund a campaign, for which the swamp is the facilitator.  If the candidate chooses to circumvent the swamp and fund a campaign on small donations from regular individuals, there are challenges.

Firstly, few donate to unknown candidates.  Secondly, his swamp-funded opponent, either during the primary or the main electoral contest, runs attack advertisements, while the regular candidate has no means to respond.  Despite good intentions, he loses.

Hence, candidates intending to win have no option but to plunge into the swamp.  This enables millions of dollars for their campaign, favorable media coverage, and a few coveted endorsements.

Back in 1974, during his first term in the Senate, Joe Biden talked about the need for campaign finance reforms.

Once candidates are elected, they follow diktats from the swamp.  For instance, they vote for bills that send $55 billion to defend Ukraine and grant billions in subsidies to manufacturers of silicon microchips all based on the orders.

Do they care about Ukraine?

Not really.  Multimillion-dollar contracts to aid and defend Ukraine are awarded to swamp loyalist freelancers and corporate houses.  The bills purposefully have no tracking mechanisms for the funds.

Any act of rebellion, and the swap retaliates with viciousness.  Swamp members run a primary campaign to unseat the elected representative.  Or they fund a malicious media campaign to defame.  In extreme cases, investigative agencies are deployed where the probe itself is conflated with guilt.

The relationship between elected officials and the swamp is symbiotic.  In exchange for obeying diktats, there are multiple means of enrichment.

Shady quid pro quo deals are stuck behind closed doors when the swamp votes for sending billion to Ukraine or grants subsidies to the private sector.

The campaign is also used as an expense account.  Close relatives are "employed" by the campaigns and are paid handsome salaries.  The Daily Caller recently revealed that both House majority whip James Clyburn of South Carolina and Rep. Jahana Hayes from Connecticut use their campaign funds to enrich family members.  Obviously, there are many more who do this.

There also are lucrative jobs for close relatives in the private sector or shady business deals with hostile foreign nations.  In exchange, the private sector receives government contracts while the hostile foreign nation receives "aid," and their crimes are overlooked.  Perhaps Joe Biden's sale of the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserves to a Chinese company linked to Hunter Biden's investment firm was in exchange for Hunter profiting from dealings in China.  The swamp specializes in legalizing corruption.

If any swamp member were to lose an election or retire, the swamp ensures lucrative post-retirement positions, rewarding book contracts, handsome speaking fees, etc.

While the might of the law never spares regular citizens, swamp members always get a pass.  Trump's former campaign manager Steve Bannon was found guilty of contempt of Congress and faces two years of imprisonment, while swamp member Eric Holder, who was guilty of a similar offense, faced no consequences.

The swamp members also get a pass in exchange for a favor done in the past or favor that will be done in the future.  Clyburn endorsed Biden during the primary, which enabled him to win the nomination.  In exchange, Clyburn misusing his campaign fund will be ignored.

The symbiotic relationships, cultivated owing to decades of shady deals, are labyrinthine and complex.  With new recruits every day, the influence of the swamp widens, and its durability increases.  This is a self-serving, self-promoting, self-preserving, corrupt, and nepotistic cabal. 

The swamp's influence spreads beyond governmental powers.  International organizations, corporate houses, Big Tech, think-tanks, charity foundations, climate and environmental bodies, academia, and above all members of the legacy media are all members.

Despite thriving on public money, the well-being of the public is the least of the swamp's concerns.  In fact, swamp members frequently exhibit disdain for regular people, calling them pejorative names such as deplorable and Neanderthals.  Those who challenge them are branded as extremists and domestic terrorists.  Swamp members even display Mary Antoinette–like behavior in response to the struggles of regular people.

Back to the Axios piece.

The piece is intended to be a companion to the January 6 Stalinist propaganda show trial.  The goal is to make Trump appear like a dictator who will impose martial law upon being elected, crush every dissenting voice, and purge rebels within the civil service.

The sanctimonious seldom have self-awareness.  The authors also fail to understand most people are suffering on myriad fronts due to the misgovernance and the apathy of the Biden administration that has been propped up by the swamp.  When these people read of a plan to constrain the ability of the swamp to act through the Deep State bureaucrats, they will celebrate.

What Axios thinks is a hit job reads like an important section of Trump's 2024 campaign manifesto to his supporters.  It will be a huge vote-getter for the GOP during the midterms and President Trump in 2024.

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0 license.