They said that about GWB too. No institutions got dismantled. Despite the rhetoric, there is broad, bi-paratisan support for our big institutions: http://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/201....

87% of Americans think there is a "major role for government" in ensuring safe food and drugs. 75% of Americans think the same about protecting the environment. 70% think the same for education. 61% think that about healthcare. The FDA, EPA, Dept. of Ed., DHHS aren't going anywhere.

Americans don't dislike our institutions. They dislike the people running our institutions (74% think politicians put their own interests ahead of the country's).

Exactly. The disheartening thing is that he's so persuadable it's conceivable that damage could be prevented, but anyone half decent abandoned and denigrated him during the campaign, and he cares about loyalty, so his inner circle is already self-selected for maximum sycophancy and valuelessness.

All autocratic rulers are some form of a cipher, both for the cabal that does their dirty work and the totalitarian masses that enable them. It's irrelevant whether this is done by Trump directly, his administration, or thugs on the street. You can employ whichever tool accomplishes your aim, then reign it in to give the appearance of political normalcy.