Today is the third day of profoundly stupid media coverage around the demise of the Trump blog. How should we assess Trump in this moment and specifically how do we gauge his relative power and influence? Some have posited that Trump’s loss, social media bans, and inability
to sustain a blog are evidence of his decline, irrelevance and diminishment. Many of these people have argued that saying Trump’s name out loud is what fuels and sustains the Trump threat. All we need do, they claim, is to treat him like Voldemort, so long as no one speaks his
name out loud, no problem. These people are fools and their delusions are dangerous for the survival of American democracy. We are at an hour that requires people to wake up. Trump is powerful and he is a clear and PRESENT danger to our democratic society and national stability.
Trump has the ability to kill and destroy with the spoken word. His words; his lies, delusions and conspiracy theories have caused bloodshed. That is what happened on January 6th. His words will surely kill again. Trump is the leader of an authoritarian movement made up of
An eclectic mix of extremists including Proud Boy fascists, Neo Nazis, white nationalists, religious fanatics and conspiracy theorists. The Republican Party is the vessel of this movement and the membership of that party is overwhelmingly united around the cause of Trump.
Trump is not just the front runner for the GOP nomination he is the presumptive nominee. Trump is in command of the party lock, stock and barrel. The elected officials of the Republican Party are obedient soldiers in Trump’s cult of personality which can be measured in the tens
Of millions of people. This movement has become faithless to American democracy and it requires an almost Trumpian level of historical ignorance to not recognize it as one of the gravest threats the country has ever faced. Trump’s power and influence is both frightening and real
It has been said that there are no dumb ideas. There are. High on the list is the notion that Trumps failed blog evidences his waning power. It doesn’t. It means nothing. A Trump indictment will not kill off Trump or his movement, it will simply hasten his candidacy. When he
Becomes a candidate again Facebook and Twitter will lift their well earned bans. We are in the early years of a great struggle in this country that will last a long time provided the pro democracy side can win elections because we are one away from seeing the autocratic side
take power. They will not relinquish it again when they do. The GOP was not chastened by January 6th. It has grown more extreme and it is on track to take back control of the House in 22. The pro democracy coalition won a great victory when Joe Biden became President.
That victory has brought us some time but all the time in the world can’t cure a willful and delusional blindness to the great danger, resilience, ambition and authoritarianism of Trumps movement.

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More from @SteveSchmidtSES

6 Jun
Lincoln’s martyrdom enshrined his greatness in our collective memory. Less discussed is the epic tragedy caused by the loss of his singular wisdom, goodness, pragmatism and deft political hand at shaping the post Civil War world. The years that followed the Civil War are key
to understanding who we are as a nation and facing the great national myth that at long lasts demands a full reckoning. The American Civil War was the first industrialized war in history. It killed 2.5 percent of the population and if it was fought today, adjusted for population
It would have killed 7 million people. The war wasn’t just inevitable, it was predestined by the presence of the evil of human slavery on American soil. The war was just, necessary, brutal, tragic and unfinished. The idea of a separate slave nation in the Northern Hemisphere was
Read 15 tweets
6 Jun
I like old quotes that stand the test of time and that can be applied to our current circumstances. I’ve always been fascinated by language and specifically the hinges where the language of one era and time gives way to another. Here is a quote👇 by Teddy Roosevelt to ponder 1/
2/ “ In facing the future and striving, each according to the measure of his individual capacity, to work out the salvation of our land, we should be neither timid pessimists or foolish optimists. We should recognize the dangers that exist and that threaten us:
3/ we should neither overestimate them nor shrink from them, but steadily fronting them should set to work to overcome and beat them down. Grave perils are yet to be encountered in the stormy course of the Republic-perils from political corruption, perils from individual laziness
Read 6 tweets
6 Jun
Events build on each other. Actions cause reactions and shape what happens next. This will always be so. Nothing happens in a vacuum. Our present reality has been shaped by actions, decisions and events in the past. This is why it is important to understand History. 1/
.@JoeManchinWV has laid out an argument that is deeply untethered to the realities of our current national crisis. His words float upwards like puffs of smoke from an ivory tower before they evaporate into nothingness because they were released into a world that doesn’t exist. 2/
American democracy is in the greatest crisis we have faced since the Civil War. The Republican Party is controlled by Donald Trump and it is the malignant vessel by which Trump’s cult of personality metastasized into an autocratic movement. 3/
Read 13 tweets
30 May
Fox News is the most divisive, dishonest and damaging institution in the United States. It has poisoned our democracy with conspiracy theories and lies while stoking division and fear. The latest nonsense attacking @VP for wishing the American people a long weekend is a great 1/
case study. It does seem like perfect evidence around the enduring insight, apocryphally credited to Upton Sinclair, that when “fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross”. The only outrage about @VP wishing Americans a good long 2/
Memorial Day weekend are the hypocrites attacking her. The Phony outrage was manufactured at the Fox News Sewer and has been dutifully repeated by people who dishonor America’s war dead with their faithlessness to the cause they gave the “last full measure of devotion” towards 3/
Read 11 tweets
28 May
The measurement of @SenSchumer’s leadership should be his ability to hold his caucus together for the fight against the authoritarian movement. The defense of democracy is a moral issue because it is the ONLY system of government that places the HUMAN BEING over the state. 1/
The filibuster should not be ended for politics and policy disagreements. It can and should be ended in defense of the American Republic and to protect the voting franchise for Black Americans. There seems to be a profound lack of imagination among many Senate Dems over the
Magnitude of the disaster that will follow the white washing of a murderous insurrection. Our nation will be doomed to a rising tide of political violence and menace. The extremists will grow more emboldened. Our democracy will continue to atrophy. The autocrats will smile.
Read 4 tweets
27 May
.@SenatorSinema and @JoeManchinWV have shown reluctance and restraint around abolishing the filibuster. There are many good reasons for their position, not the least of which is the fact that Republicans could return to majority status and advance an agenda with no regard for
Minority rights in the Senate. These are no ordinary times. Both Senators should consider saying that if Republicans filibuster an open, fair and urgently important national commission around the murderous insurrection from four months ago they will strike down the filibuster.
The use of the filibuster in this instance is a threat to national security and long term constitutional stability. It is zero sum now. GOP Senators are making coercive threats towards the private sector, a leading senate candidate is talking about “ destroying opponents of
Read 6 tweets

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