Heather Cox Richardson, in the most recent installment of Letters from an American :
The Trump administration is replacing American democracy with a kleptocracy, a system of corruption in which a network of ruling elites use the institutions of government to steal public assets for their own private gain. It permits virtually unlimited theft while the head of state provides cover for his cronies through pardons and the uneven application of the law.With numerous examples.
It is the system Russia’s president Vladimir Putin exploits in Russia, and President Donald J. Trump is working to establish it in the United States of America.
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Maybe it was Gais Verres, I don't know, who was always mentioned in 1930's high school history texts (that I grew up around) regarding the time when the Republic of Rome was corrupt but not yet a third world (political-wise) empire.
He openly boasted that in his first year as governor he corruptly raised a fortune to pay back the senators he had bribed to get the position, in his second year raised a fortune to bribe any people who might put him on trial, and then in his third year he made a fortune to pay himself.
I am reminded of the current king and his courtiers being open about their corruption and law breaking.
The texts always made a point of saying how swiftly the Romans declined into following a Caesar, taking only a single generation (or maybe two, I forget).
The similarities to an earlier collapsing empire are real.
(I was sure that I said something back earlier, but my comment didn't go through.)
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