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My thoughts throughout this Presidency (all three weeks of it) has been a mix of:
Damn, Trump is reckless, unprofessional, and vain.
How the fuck does he have so much ammo?
There's a plane crash? Air Traffic Controllers were hired under a racist system. Foreign aid? Transgender operas in Colombia. Funding basic science? >60% "administrative overhead" tacked on. Threaten Canada with tariffs? Suddenly our border security is a valid issue. Random whatever? $20M in subscriptions to the Associated Press, and another $1.6M to the NYT.
It feels like a weird mirror to the Texas Sharpshooter fallacy: He gives every indication of shooting blindly, but there has actually been a bullseye where he hits all along. That could be luck or good spin, but the most compelling story is that everywhere is that bad.
(Related joke: There has been a shooting at a peaceful protest! A child molester, a sexual assaulter, and a convicted felon illegally carrying a gun are the only people injured.)
I still don't think he's doing a good job, but damn does he have a strong narrative.
Corporate security at my job keeps referencing "attack surface". How much vulnerable and hypothetically open to malicious action "surface" are we exposing to the world? They go a bit far in fearing this, in my opinion. Saying we shouldn't be handing out business cards on foreign trips, etc. But their larger point is valid. If you go around leaving possible vulnerabilities exposed to the world, then someone is going to exploit some of them.
Millions spent on transgender animal research, millions on Central American gender assessment clinics, etc, etc. They are hanging targets for a Republican Texas sharpshooter to accidentally hit while making broad cuts. The attack surface was massive so even blundering unfocused "attacks" happen to stike it again and again.
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The name of the concept you're reaching for is "target-rich environment".
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I've been digging into some of these laws and regulations. I'm coming away more convinced than ever that democratic governance is a myth. No regular person could possibly comprehend the byzantine labyrinth of rules, regulations, and case law required to competently evaluate government decision making.
Every spigot of federal funds grows into a hydrothermal vent of highly-specialized fauna perfectly adapted for siphoning-off those sweet sweet grants. Congress can't fix the problem, because all they are able or willing to do is appropriate more funding for things.
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