It appears unlikely he will able to manipulate the data as the commissioner since the number crunching is done by career economists and statisticians. He could however end monthly job reports in favor of quarterly, and try to spin a rosey picture from the results.

Economists across the political spectrum are saying he is unqualified.

Even if the Trump era ends tomorrow and his policies are discredited and reversed, America has lost its innocence. These outrages will serve as precedent, and it will be so much easier for some future administration to try them again. And it need not just necessarily be some other neofascist brute, the next time the threat may just as easily come from the Left. I’ve already heard calls from Democratic Party leaders to systematically oppose all Republican policies, even if they happen to be in total agreement with them! Their hope is that the nation will collapse into a chaos that can be used against the Right. And I can see cynical leftist propaganda starting to creep into our media, slowly and quietly, but unchallenged by progressives who should know better.

Today our loss of democracy is due to the self-serving agenda of an opportunistic commercial elite exploiting the bigotry and apathy of an ignorant and fearful populace. These people will always be with us, and without strong non-governmental democratic institutions and constitutional safeguards we will be helpless against them. Tomorrow, the problem may arise from severe military, economic or political threats which demagogues of another stripe altogether may exploit to their advantage, perhaps not for the same reasons, but with ultimately the same result.

History has shown us that a certain critical mass of selfishness and stupidity is all that’s necessary for a nation to lose its freedom. Unfortunately, that “critical mass” need not be a majority. And the chain reaction, when it comes, can explode unexpectedly with astonishing ferocity.

I’m not saying this will happen here, but I know that for the first time in my life I cannot rule it out. Even during the turbulent era of the nineteen sixties and seventies I never once feared for a collapse of the American experiment. I no longer have that confidence. Not only can I not say “it can’t happen here”, it appears to me to be right on schedule.

I can’t tell you how depressed I feel, or how far I have succumbed to despair. I fear for my country. I am thankful I have no children and I am hopeful I will not live long enough to see it all play out.

…when presidents flip the board, it’s not just a game that ends. It’s the pieces of democracy that get scattered to the floor.

“This is the kind of thing you would only expect to see in a banana republic,” Ms. Yellen said.

…the agency’s job wasn’t to say whether the glass was half-full or half-empty, only to report that, “It is an eight-ounce container with four ounces of liquid.

As for politicians, the GOP has already shown its utter cowardice, so no surprise there.

Not only is America no longer the land of the free, it has ceased to be the home of the brave.