Thread by @DanielMillerEsq

The incident at Arlington cemetery demonstrates a really profound and potentially underrated point.

Trump intimidates people into not holding him accountable. Imagine how much worse this could get if he’s the president and controls the immense powers of the executive?

1/🧵

Imagine if you’re a juror on a trial of a Trump associate. Imagine if you’re the judge. It would only be natural to worry about the consequences to you or your family if you held Trump accountable. Under that pressure, what would you do? What would any of us do?

2/

Imagine if you’re on a board of a company and you’re deciding how to vote on an issue that impacts a Trump-owned business. Do you vote in a way that benefits Trump because you’re worried if you don’t DOJ might launch a baseless investigation against you?

3/

Imagine you’re a Democratic member of Congress and you’re considering conducting oversight over his administration. You might think you’d be brave enough to do that. I hope you would be. I think you would be. But who knows how people would act in such a climate of fear.

4/

There are endless scenarios where the threat of Trump using the powers of the state (or mob) to punish you could intimidate or corrupt you.

We need to do a better job of imagining the type of world we could be living in if Trump wins. It would be far worse than we think.

5/5

Some more scenarios:

Imagine being a journalist who up till now has reported on Trump without fear or favor. In a second Trump term, you could find yourself under investigation. Trump could threaten to pull the “license” of your network. You could get doxxed or worse…. 6/5

… To be sure, I believe in the integrity of many journalists. But it is hard enough NOW to resist the impulses of bothsidesism, which newsrooms are incentivizing. It is hard enough NOW to be brave in the face of Trump’s mob. It will be SO MUCH worse if Trump wins… 7/6

If Trump wins, this kind of pressure and intimidation will be ubiquitous. It will be in the air we breathe. It will permeate every aspect of our society. No one will be immune.

You might think you’re strong enough to overcome it. To push back. Maybe. But …8/6

…the fact is, when most people get put to the test, they fail the test. It’s just human nature. Maybe we’re different. And part of me thinks we are, that we have the courage and integrity to stare down such fear.

But we really don’t want to find out one way or the other. END