Computers have taken the old adage, knowledge is power, to new heights of being obvious, and the foundational role of information technology in shaping and provisioning knowledge, or at least raw data and rarely wisdom, has made the adage's crucial importance to governance--and coups--also extremely obvious. As just one example, in the quest to validate or fake messages, pivotal encryption keys are fought over electronically as royal seals have been physically. In the battle for hearts and minds, the internet is central.

Created by Douglas Lucas in mid-May 2025 as a footnote for his June 4, 2025 article at Rolling Stone titled Republican bill would legalize DOGE and let Trump dismantle everything: The Reorganizing Government Act is a longshot in the Senate, but that could change--and so would the separation of powers. MSN and Yahoo republished the article without paywalls. See also the accompanying blog post with extra material.