“Defining Deviancy Down” is a 1993 essay by sociologist and then U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan. Its core idea is “societies survive disorder by redefining it—at the cost of moral and social coherence.”
In my lifetime, America has redefined commerce. Scale now dominates.
We have redefined marijuana—it is now “recreational”.
Gambling has been redefined as “fun” and is featured in promotions during games.
Love is now “making love,” and too often friendship has been caught up in a transactional zeitgeist—“what is in it for me.”
And maybe most tellingly, let’s look at governance or what we call politics.
The great fisherman, Donald Trump, is certainly good at chumming the water. Trump stands tall on the bow deck of the statecraft, tossing pieces of fish in the water.
I have seen what chum does. Chumming is baiting the water with stuff fish like to eat and then slipping a hook into one or more of the baits. Trump on most days chums the water, much of the media and a too credulous audience rush to the bait. I want to shout: “watch out for the hooks.”
The President wants history to record him as a mythic leader. In his view, right up there with Washington and Lincoln. He will be recognized not as a great leader but as a mythic chummer. Maria Machado’s, Venezuela’s opposition leader, harrowing journey from Venezuela to Norway was mythic. She deserved the Nobel recognition.
But when it comes to chumming, wow! I watched its effect when I objected to the President’s use of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulatory authority to help favored media at the expense of free speech. In a 48-hour cycle, I was called a number of times and interviewed. But then the circus left town—my phone quit ringing.
The larger question: has Trump bent America’s institutions of government in such an egregious way that they will not straighten out? Or will a true democrat (not the party) again occupy the White House? And, will the institutions that balance America’s government once again serve as intended?
But let me return to the chum. The public, especially independent voters, have begun to rebel. Even some in the Republican Party seem fed up. At some point, tactics are revealing. Increasingly, they reveal a President who will bend and reshape words and actions in self-justification. “The hell with democracy,” he says to himself, “I will do what I want to do. And celebrate myself.”
In my view, he is in a competition with himself for the most loathsome actions. Favoring Russia over Ukraine. Driving prices higher with tariffs. Failing to deal with our national debt. Disparaging. Bullying. Lying. Where to start? Stop?
But he has achieved one overriding tactical success—intimidating Members of Congress. Their compliant behavior proves what a woeful bunch of wannabes occupy many of the Congressional seats.
And in my list of mythically bad actions what about taking a wrecking ball to the East Wing of the White House? Once again, the Congress proved prey as Trump got his rich collaborators to pay for the destruction and presumably the rebuild. Transactional politics at its most egregious.
Final word. The President is clear; he wants to run things. He doesn’t want the Congress or States or Courts to get in the way. He wants what judicial theorists call the “unitary presidency”—the President as corporate Chief Executive (CEO) with authority to do anything and everything.
Similarity with CEOs is absent. Perhaps the theorists willfully overlook the obvious. CEOs can be immediately fired by their Boards.
If the Supreme Court, in a pending case on tariff authority, rationalizes Presidential authority, the court will join Trump in infamy. And if Congress persists in acting like a compliant board of directors it too will join Trump and his Supreme Court in disgrace. Importantly, if the scaffolding of checks and balances are removed our building will fall down.
Right now Trump is “defining deviancy down”. Can Americans reclaim it?
Breaking News
When learning of Rob Reiner’s death, Trump verbally applauded, referring to him as a “deranged person”. Surely this won’t define deviancy down any further.
The Days Ahead
Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Especially, “Peace on Earth and Good Will to All! And, sorry for the dark lead-in.
Al Sikes is the former Chair of the Federal Communications Commission under George H.W. Bush. Al writes on themes from his book, Culture Leads Leaders Follow published by Koehler Books.
Jim Bachman says
Unfortunately Congress has ceded their role to the executve branch. This occurred well before Trump’s first term. I’m not sure why we even keep them around since they seem unwilling to perform their constitutional role.
It would seem that the courts are following congress’ approach and confirming ultimate authority. We may well need to take them off the payroll.
Hedley Batters says
Hard to be optimistic. The members of Congress are in general truly pathetic—- then they have the nerve to refer to themselves as ‘public servants’
Richard Marks says
Well written, Al.
The day of reckoning will come. As Dylan sang, “But even the president of the United States; Sometimes must have to stand naked.” And, he also noted, “It doesn’t take a weatherman to know which way the wind blows”.
The courts have not held Trump accountable, but 2026 will bring an economic crisis and a changing of the guard. Let us hope our institutions can hold together in the midst of the turmoil that could follow.
David Potash says
There’s one way to fire taco, at the voting booths
Mickey Terrone says
Hi Al. Once again, you have accurately identified and categorized Trump as the prime villain in perpetrating this vile campaign to bring down American democracy and replace it with an oligarchy of the richest few. In doing so, he’s also well into the process of undermining world democracy and individual freedom by abandoning Ukraine and NATO and making America’s richest few our overlords.
Yet, its clear to me that Trump could not begin to achieve these deviant debacles alone. The Republican Party is largely responsible for nominating him to be president, knowing full well what he perpetrated in his first term. I have to believe many of those elected officials (at every level of government) fully agree with him and support him to the extent they have become his accomplices. At this point, many of them actually fear him because they fear the death threats they receive when and if they publicly oppose any of his goals. Without this entire political party of sycophants and cowards, Trump could be defanged by New Years Day. Is it possible that elected Republicans were unaware that Trump would open the management of the United States government to his Project 2025 extremists? I have to believe they all knew despite Trump’s repeated denials during his campaign.
In fact, the Republican Party neither performs nor lives up to the character of a political party. It is a fearful collection of elected zombies who have simply become the political extension of the Trump Cult as well as the legislative rubber stamp for all Project 2025’s authoritarian, fascist efforts to undermine America’s traditions and values. It is not “Congress” that has failed. It is the Republicans in Congress who have failed the American people and their oaths of office to defend the US Constitution.
The Supreme Court is worse yet. The Heritage Foundation’s 6-justice majority functions as Trump’s trump card when he needs to overrule lower courts’ constitution-based decisions. Their judgement allowing Trump effective immunity to commit criminal acts and exceed his constitutional authority has effectively demonstrated that they too have abandoned their oaths of office to the US Constitution.
Correcting these potentially lethal attacks on our Constitution will be difficult to override, even if Trump voluntarily allows the results of the 2026 elections to go into effect without declaring a national emergency if and when he loses his control of either or both Houses of Congress. You don’t really think Trump would allow himself to be controlled or even limited by a Democrat majority, do you?
I certainly believe Trump will act to disqualify the 2026 election and the Supreme Court will abet his crime against our country and our democracy by allowing him to declare martial law until Trump can rig the vote. Elected Republicans at all levels of government will not utter a peep of protest. Those cowards have shown their stripes and those stripes will not change in late 2026. Our democratic republic will have effectively ended at that point.
But all my comments herewith haven’t touched on the biggest catastrophe of Trump and Trumpism. That is the number of average Americans who actually voted for Trump and fell for his awful racist, bigoted and often mindless demagoguery. You know, the Republicans who believed that Haitians in Springfield, Ohio were eating the dogs (and cats). Those are the Republicans who believed Trump would end the war in Ukraine in one day or bring down the cost of living or offer a great health care plan. They are the same Republican rank and file who believed Trump would deport only the criminal elements among our South and Central American immigrants. There were so very many absurd lies Trump espoused during (and after) the campaign that it is appalling anyone actually believed him.
Thus, I have to believe a significant portion of Republican voters either pathetically naive enough to believe Trump’s lies or actually agree with his racism, bigotry and the insanity of his foreign and domestic wrecking ball policies. Pick your poison. This is an American tragedy caused by Republican leaders and voters. Hopefully it won’t devolve much further into an American fascist apocalypse. Its time for Republican elected leaders and voters to speak out against Trump.
Sorry to deliver this message at Christmas but I get nostalgic for my old country and the traditions with which I grew up. Best wishes to you and everyone else for a better 2026.