But that would entail admitting to the entire world that he was a criminal. Herr Drumpfenfuhrer never, ever, EVER admits to losing in public. So I am genuinely more concerned that he will try to Push The Big Red Button if he ever feels like he can’t get out of this mess as cleanly as he has every other action against him.
No it wouldn’t. He would just be like, “I did my civic duty, but now it’s time to go back and retake the reigns of my business empire.”
I mean, there are so many ways to positively spin this as a win. It’s like breaking up with your girlfriend because you heard she was planning to break up with you. Or quit before you know you will get fired.
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Otherwise known as the “Sarah Palin.”
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I take your point, but I don’t think the institutional norms he’s broken are guaranteed to snap back into place when someone who actually cares about our country comes back into office, and I don’t think our standing in the world is going to be easily repaired. The message he’s unequivocally sent to Asia and Europe is that the US is not a stable entity upon which long-term plans can rely, and for better or worse other actors in the world are going to fill that void.
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Well, yes, the current president didn’t commit ethnic cleansing for example… Though he is responsible for setting up concentration camps along our southern border, many of which are housing children.
I was thinking he could be a turning point, though (Trump). If Nixon was the death knell of the “liberal consensus” that had held together since FDR’s new deal, maybe Trump could signal the end of the “age of fracture” which we’ve been in since the 70s.
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Do you think it’s more likely that Trump is a turning point toward the end (or at least the beginning of the end) of the “age of fracture,” or toward its significant acceleration?
(not a trick/rhetorical question, by the way–I really wonder what other folks think is more likely at this point because I can convince myself of just about any outcome here)
Sure, entirely possible scenario. it could just end in utter chaos and the country could fall apart. The options for keeping the US together include one of two things - a shift back to New Deal liberalism (or further left, even) or a shift into authoritarianism.
But I also see how more people are starting to see through some of the right wing, libertarian policies that have driven the post watergate period… and we have a ton of younger voters who weren’t around for the late 60s to the 80s, and don’t remember first hand the post-civil rights era, revelations of Vietnam and Cointelpro, watergate (and other government scandals domestic and foreign), the oil shocks, the eroding of labor unions as a force in US politics, etc. Instead, they’ve grown up in the wake of all that, and have noted that the government turning over more of its operations to private corporations have not worked out as promised (an end to government corruption, better jobs, an end to run away factories, all that). Rather they see the current pro-business administration stripping away further regulations that are seriously damaging to the economy and our country as a whole. This could lead to people seeking to elect officials who will seek to use federal power for more democratic means, instead of doubling down… that depends on a lot of course, but popular opinion could be shifting to where more people view the government as part of the solution to our social problems, instead of as Reagan argued, getting in the way of solving social problems. The popularity of Bernie Sanders is a indicator that this might be the case.
But yeah, this just seems like a moment in history where things could go multiple ways, and this is just my prediction for one possible outcome of historical forces that we’re dealing with.
Age of fracture is not my term, BTW, but was the name of a book by historian Daniel Rodgers:
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I go back and forth between looking at the factors you raise, especially the environmentalism/GW issue that seems to be as stark a generational divide as any, and then looking at the angry young men & women that are responding to this brand of nationalism in ways that I didn’t think were on the table any longer. I’m not sure if there will be one dominant outcome for the coming generation, and that split is terrifying to me.
I think we (liberals/progressives/Democrats) have convinced ourselves that if & when Trump comes crashing down there will be some kind of national coming to terms with the reality of what he was and what he fomented, but I am terrified of the prospect of the right-wing media cottage industry simply deciding that up is down and black is white, and selling their audiences that what happened is the liberal media and deep state conspiracy blocked the GOP agenda of freedom and MAGA. Ailes et al’s long-term goal of no objective, shared reality but merely competing political narratives is on our doorstep, I think.
Looking at the demographics of the GOP voting blocs and the reality of our population, it seems unlikely that the GOP can continue down this road indefinitely, but jesus they can do some damage with the large chunks of government they’ll be able to hold onto.
I’ve heard of that book but not read it. Worth it?
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True, that’s a serious concern - but we do see some backing away from the most prominent of right wing media (Fox), with Hannity and Carlson seemingly criticizing Trump in various ways recently (Carlson on some radio or TV show, and Hannity by deleting tweets of Trump’s associates or some such). Fox even backed CNN’s lawsuit against the white house recently. It’s the middle that seems to be seeing Fox and such as less legitimate.
This is happening, too, no doubt, but other media outlets are seeking to correct the record somewhat.
This is true, especially as it becomes clearer that they are the ones who are trying to rig elections, by stacking the deck through gerrymandering and in some recent cases (NC) outright fraud or by making the system less democratic (Wisconsin). I’d hope that more people are seeing through this. We did see some movement from at least some white women in the suburbs of major cities, reacting to various authoritarian policies and the GOPs lack of care about women’s issues and family issues.
Indeed. But a good majority of that could be undone in the right circumstances.
Yeah, it’s good. It’s been a while since I’ve read it, but I remember enjoying it a good bit.
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Richard Nixon was caught red handed committing crimes against democracy, which were the tip of the iceberg, and his punishment was early retirement and decades of glowing revisionist histories. That was Trump’s goal. Winning the presidency was a mistake.
He’s a sociopath. He’s biologically incapable of shame. But even if he weren’t, the American media landscape rewards people who lie like crazy (and who constantly say crazy things), and go in for the kill for anyone they think has shown “weakness”, so he’d be an idiot to behave otherwise.
He still doesn’t give a shit about the consequences for all he’s done to this country.
Why is it so hard for people to understand this? It’s no wonder Trump can walk all over liberals when so many of them seem to have this bizarre, pathological asshole blindness.
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The damage he’s done to USA’s reputation and global standing, as well as various US alliances, can’t be undone easily.
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