Must read: Reagan's Destructive Revolution

"The revolution began in 1981 under the banner of Reaganism — Ronald Reagan's anti-government, market-fundamentalist philosophy that now dominates American political thought.
Yet, it is best labeled the "Stealth Revolution" because pundits and the public, after nearly a quarter century, still appear to be unaware of its existence, much less the damage already done. The deleterious changes have stayed under the radar.
Be that as it may, a revolution is in full swing. President Reagan's two terms put it on course; Reaganism sustained it for the next 12 years; George W. Bush, Reagan's disciple, re-energized it with a vengeance.
Following the tenets of Reaganism, Bush has led the most undemocratic American government in the post-World War II era. It well may be the least democratic government since 1789.
The result is that the national institutions created by the Constitution to support representative democracy have been disfigured. America has become an entrenched plutocracy where the wealthiest individuals and major corporations unduly influence government decisions to reap benefits at the expense of ordinary citizens.
A modern-day Rip Van Winkle — falling asleep just before Reagan's inauguration and awakening today — would be amazed to find that the political revolution has eaten away much of the foundation of the American republic during his hibernation. The Stealth Revolution has succeeded to an extent unimaginable a quarter century ago.
In "The Great Unraveling," Princeton University economist and New York Times op-ed columnist Paul Krugman, drawing on Henry Kissinger's 1957 book, "A World Restored," pointed out that what the latter labeled a "revolutionary power" intends to crush the existing structure of governance that it views as illegitimate.
Krugman argued: "One should regard America's right-wing movement — which now in effect controls the administration, both houses of Congress, much of the judiciary, and a good slice of the media — as a revolutionary power in Kissinger's sense. That is, it is a movement whose leaders do not accept the legitimacy of our current political system."