Thread by @glennkirschner2

Excerpt from "Justice in a Post-Trump World."

The Carnival Barker Who Would Be King:
The United States of American certainly isn’t the first country to see its government succumb to rampant corruption. We Americans tend to look back at Nazi Germany or apartheid South Africa

and say to ourselves, “that could never happen here.” And perhaps that’s true, at least partially. We have not rounded up, confined and exterminated millions of people. We have not wholly deprived people of their civil or human rights based on their race, ethnicity or religion

(at least not recently). No, ours is a uniquely American atrocity.
Our atrocity involves an all-consuming quest to acquire and retain power. It started with an unflinchingly amoral, failed businessman turned successful political conman. The carnival barker who would be king.

Millions voted for and stood by Trump even as it became apparent that he cared only about his own wealth, power and status and not at all about the welfare of America or its people.
It’s not surprising that people can be duped into following a charlatan. It’s even less

surprising that once they signed on to Team Trump, they were reluctant to disengage. Human beings like to be part of something, they like to belong. Belonging is why troubled kids often gravitate toward criminal gangs or street crews. If they can’t get a feeling of belonging at

home, they may turn to the streets for “positive” reinforcement, for attention, for inclusion.

More to follow soon . . .