At the heart of this is the acknowledgement that conservatism functions as a pressure relief valve. There are periodic revolts against the establishment, and that's all well and good, so long as they conclude and with hobgoblins like Bill Kristol on top 1/
https://twitter.com/BillKristol/status/1335654061035687941
Trumpism frightened people because it looked like it had the ability to go beyond a kind of Tea Party thing, to reach beyond the occasional revolt and instead mark the beginning of something new and lasting 2/
But it's yet unclear what will become of Trumpism, if it will merely become another iteration of the Tea Party, or be refined into something else to be wielded by the next "Trump" against the establishment. People like Kristol understand the latter is a threat to themselves 3/
I think the left and neoconservative "right" understands this better than most Trump supporters and it fuels their hysteria. David Brooks warned Trump was merely phase one of things to come in 2017 4/ nytimes.com/2017/09/22/opi…
On November 6, 2020, Zeynep Tufekci echoed Brooks' 2017 warning in The Atlantic 5/ theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…
Also in November, Jacobin published a similar article about how Trump is, or could be, just the beginning of something serious and threatening to the existing order 6/ jacobinmag.com/2020/11/donald…
People like Kristol are probably hoping and praying what started with Trump in 2016 does not develop into a more serious movement with a doctrine and disciplined leadership. They can LARP about Trump being a boogeyman because Trump is too nice 7/
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