You can't process it logically. That's what makes it dangerous. If you can get people to act on rage without the constraints of logic, you create a dangerous situation. Right-wing media is trying to break politics. (I have an earlier thread on this)
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Just a friendly reminder that if the people who abused power are not held "accountable," it's because they are being shielded by a major political party that holds a lot of power.
You can't say Schiff and Swalwell haven't been doing their best.
Underestimating how entrenched the anti-democratic forces are? Unreasonable expectations? Thinking change can be swift?
Think about what would be happening right now if Trump was in the White House and compare.
In this fabulous lecture, Harvard prof. Steven Levitsky explains that the Republicans are engaging in hardball tactics because they feel their backs are to the wall and they're desperate.
If this is the kind of thing I've been saying, it's because I've been reading Levitsky's work for years. He writes about democracies in Latin America, democratic erosion, and competitive authoritarianism. He's also a co-author of 👇
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Also, 👇
His point: For most of the 20th century, American politics "worked."
That’s because through the 1970s, both parties culturally and demographically similar.
Specifically, they were white. White men controlled all major American institutions.
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The legal question is whether Trump made the statement in the scope of his employment
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In other words, this case isn't about the rape itself (except that truth is a defense to libel)
I suspect that the issue will be appealed, and the appellate court will decide whether it agrees that the defamatory statements were uttered in the scope of Trump's employment.
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The most important thing you can do is get involved in local politics. I live in a blue city in a blue state, and right-wingers are getting a foothold at the very local level.