Thread by @ClaireBerlinski

This is why I voted for Hillary, and remains why--despite the grotesquery of the Kavanaugh hearings and my loathing of the far-left--I'll vote for Democrats in the midterms.
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People who didn't see that synagogue attack coming, I think, don't understand antisemitism as a system of thought. Not so surprising. Usually the only people eager to give it much thought are Jews, antisemites, and people who study antisemitism for a living. Small group.

As it should be. Normal people have no reason or need to spend a lot of time getting into the minds of antisemites.

I don't think Trump's an antisemite. But I think he has an uncanny instinct for "things that work," politically. And he knows so little about antisemitism--

-- or, in fact, anything -- that he doesn't grasp *why* these themes are compelling--and damned dangerous. He just notices that they really work. Nor has he any moral compass, so he won't ask himself, "Is it a good idea to say and do anything that works?" So he uses them.

There's a set of ideas associated with antisemitism that will always be politically attractive, even to philo-semites. If you take the word "Jew" out of the classic antisemitic texts,

you're still left with a Weltanschauung that makes sense to people who want an explanation for the pain and iniquity of life.

And some people will always find that view compelling--just as, I suspect, a communist could now introduce Marxist ideas in the US,

but without using the word "communist," "Marx," or other words associated in people's minds with communism--and find a very receptive audience.

I don't think people who voted for Trump are, in the main, antisemites:

Some liked the antisemitic imagery, but not because they understood that that's what it was. You can hit every note in the antisemitic repertoire without once mentioning Jews. Most Americans, I think, wouldn't realize that the missing word in so many of Trump's speeches is "Jew."

But a small number of Americans, unfortunately, know it all too well. Because they're antisemites. So they've studied it. They've read the Protocols. Pored over Mein Kampf. And when they hear the associated tropes, they mentally add the missing word.

I don't believe Trump is capable of being a proper authoritarian. He's just not competent enough. And I do think there's a serious authoritarian threat from the left. But until there's a sane, centrist, liberal party--and that day can't come soon enough--I'll vote for Democrats.

Because we've got to cripple our president, and they're the only vehicle we've got. We have to cripple him because he's too dumb to know he's playing with fire. That's not limited to the metaphorical fire of antisemitism.

He's too dumb to know he's playing with the literal fire of nuclear weapons.

I do not like the Democrats. At all. After the year-long sex panic and the Kavanaugh spectacle, frankly, I loathe them.

When Cory Booker uttered the words, "Your brilliance, shining light onto this, speaking your truth, is nothing more than heroic," I despaired. Clearly, the Democratic Party provides no remedy to authoritarian demagoguery.

The problem is our susceptibility to it. And as long as there's a demand for it, someone will provide it.

But for now, the only solution I see is to pit them at each others' throats and keep them so busy fighting each other that they can't do as much damage.

So I'll be voting for the Democrats again in the coming election, however much I don't think they deserve my vote. And I'll pray that someone in America has the courage and the ability to form a new political party.

This should not be beyond us. We're an accomplished nation.

From the Bill of Rights to Lincoln to putting a man on the moon to inventing the Internet, we're a fairly accomplished people.

So surely there must be people among us who can put together a political party that doesn't creep the crap out of me?

Until then: It's a shame they can't both lose.

I'll vote in a manner that achieves the next best thing--making our government divided and impotent--and advise everyone to do likewise.