Judicial independence under Trump? Like expecting vegan options at a Texas BBQ—let’s not kid ourselves.

Picture this: The Trump administration, bored of just tripping over democracy, brings Alina Habba—loyal MAGA mouthpiece and legal flamingo—back as a U.S. Attorney by executive fiat. A federal appeals court promptly shambles to life and starts grilling Team Trump’s lawyers with the skepticism most of us reserve for email scams and politicians promising “unity.”

The questions came fast and hot: “Is this just patronage, or is there an actual reason she’s here?” (Spoiler: the reason’s as thin as Trump’s skin.)

What followed wasn’t so much a defense as a performance art piece in the Dadaist tradition—nonsense, circular logic, and a breathless insistence that checks and balances are for snowflakes.

This wasn’t subtle. Trump’s DOJ has been systematically purged of anyone who values facts over fealty. If you’re not pounding the table for Florida Man Jesus, consider your career in “government service” a ticking time bomb.

Habba’s appointment is the latest in a long, ugly lineage of jobs handed out to clutchers of the golden MAGA calf. Judges asked: “Where’s the vetting? Where’s the merit? Why does the DOJ keep sounding like a QVC pitch for autocracy?”

Team Trump’s answer, boiled down: “Because we can. Because the system is broken. And because nobody has stopped us yet.”

This is not some Beltway procedural fight. The Trump gang is testing—hell, stress-testing—whether democracy will actually defend itself.

• Rehiring loyalists like Habba is a rollout for one-party rule, not “normal transition.”
• The real message: If you piss off the king, you’re out. If you flatter him, here’s your corner office.
• Defense offered: “Historical precedent? Never heard of her.”

So here’s your normalization check: If even a federal appeals panel is clutching its collective pearls, you know the car is already off the road and headed for the church bake sale.

Don’t roll your eyes just yet—this is how “temporary” authoritarianism metastasizes into permanent rot. If Trump or his Mini-MAGAs can turn the DOJ into their private protection racket, then the rule of law is just bumper sticker nostalgia.

Left-leaning watchdogs and even a few embattled centrists are sounding off: every time a crony is cemented behind the bench, the idea that government serves the people gets tossed out like yesterday’s McNuggets.
Forget “law and order.” This is about “who’s more loyal to the party line?” Spoiler: It’s never going to be you, unless your résumé includes working a Trump-branded casino bankrupting itself in Atlantic City.

The courts are a bulwark, but they’re not a cure-all. No, you can’t just “wait for the next election” and hope the fever breaks—MAGA’s playbook is erode, intimidate, repeat. Every crony appointment makes future coups more plausible. The only answer? Relentless public scrutiny. Call this out. Refuse to let cult-of-personality government become “Tuesday.”

Stay loud. Stay factual. Make autocrats and their sycophants sweat, because nobody else is going to save this country for you.

---