Why I’m leaving 18F
> Every day he [Trump] remains in office, civil servants have to ask themselves if political appointees are being given their positions due to merit, or to personal loyalty to Trump, or someone else in the Administration.<p>Sounds like it was time for the author to move on and I wish him well, but his impact was highest inside the tent. With patience, flexibility and choosing his battles wisely he might have had some influence within his sphere of responsibilities.<p>The author conflates norms for appearances. For good or bad Trump largely dispenses with appearances and practices his political maneuverings in the open, appearances be damned. But the practices are the same either way.<p>I've interviewed for an executive branch position where having voted years prior for the opposite party disqualified me. I've worked in a state campaign where my relatives, having donated to the opposite party, placed me under suspicion. Patronage and loyalty testing are the <i>OLDEST</i> of political practices. None of this is new under Trump, and none of it ever changes except in times of indisputable and existential national crisis.<p>Existential crisis is pretty much upon us. Much blame is deserved across the political spectrum for how we've arrived here.