1. How often have we had this conversation:
A: "Trump is an aspiring authoritarian"
B: "Actually, he's just an incompetent buffoon."
In truth, it's not just that Trump is both an authoritarian & a buffoon but that this combination (a common one) makes him more dangerous.
A: "Trump is an aspiring authoritarian"
B: "Actually, he's just an incompetent buffoon."
In truth, it's not just that Trump is both an authoritarian & a buffoon but that this combination (a common one) makes him more dangerous.
2. Trump wants to use the military to squash the protests. The military, especially after the backlash to Monday night's church photo op fiasco, is pushing back, hard. So: incompetence, yes. But Trump has plenty of fall back positions: egging on cops & militias.
3. Another fall back position now that the army isn't doing what he wants is mercenaries. We might already be seeing some fo that.
4. The more Trump's incompetence frustrates his ability to carry out what he wants, the more he'll lash out: a fairly common dynamic in authoritarian regimes. He still has enough power -- especially via figures like Barr -- to do real damage. More here: thenation.com/article/politi…
