The nonchalance with which too many mainstream media outlets have treated the revelations of how close the country came to a self-coup would perhaps be *somewhat* justifiable if Trump were fully ostracized from politics and society.
At this point, Trump must be considered the clear favorite to be the Republican Party’s next presidential nominee: The base wants him, GOP elites stand with him - even supposedly “moderate” ones like Nikki Haley -, Trumpism is rapidly becoming the Republican orthodoxy.
Conservative intellectuals are either all in on Trumpism (the Claremont Institute types, for instance); or claim to be loathing Trump the Man while absolutely supporting Trump the Politician who promises to shut up the Libs (the religious conservatives like Dreher, Ahmari…).
That doesn’t mean there’s no friction on the Right. The self-proclaimed nationalist conservatives are basically ready to break with the Reaganite consensus and end the fusion of traditionalism and libertarian anti-statism, no longer believing it serves their reactionary project.
And Steve Bannon wants to purge everyone who’s not unabashedly white nationalist, having no patience for any kind of even purely rhetorical / tactical adherence to the existing system - and I’m sure the far-right militias agree that it’s time to go all radical, all the time.
But none of that seems to undermine Trump’s position - at the very least, no alternative to Trump has emerged that could seriously fracture the Right. Trump is their man, Trumpism their credo. He’s the chosen vessel to deliver the victory over the despised leftist enemy.
Considering all that, it should absolute be a big freakin deal that this guy who leads the Right and dominates the Republican Party had concrete plans to stage a self-coup, fake national emergency and all, and effectively end democracy in America right there and then!
If someone can stage an assault on the system like Trump did, and continue to attack and undermine the system in every conceivable way, and then just go on to lead one of the major parties, probably become a presidential nominee once again, democracy is unsustainable.
If the institutions that are tasked with upholding democracy and sustaining a democratic political culture do not possess the strength and/or will to mount an effective defense against Trump now, it will soon be impossible to halt the accelerating slide into authoritarianism.
The Republican Party has made its choice; the conservative movement has made its choice; the American Right has made its choice: They all stand with Trump, they have chosen Trumpism over democracy.
Now everyone who prefers democracy has to make their choice too. And quickly.
It’s not just the Democratic politicians. Every newsroom has to make a choice. Every journalist has to make a choice. Everyone who has any kind of public platform has to make a choice.
America is at a crossroads. The time to choose is now.
But could it really happen here? It is happening right now.
American democracy is on the brink, and if we want to save it - want to eventually, finally realize the promise of a functioning multiracial, pluralistic democracy - we have to acknowledge that these are the stakes.
People who claim Zelensky was at fault yesterday and should have been more “diplomatic” or “respectful” are either deliberately propagating the Trumpist attack line – or they fundamentally misunderstand what the Trumpist project is and who is now in power in the United States.
There is this pervasive idea that Trump doesn’t really mean it, has no real position, and can therefore be steered and manipulated by tactical and diplomatic finesse; or maybe he’s just a businessman looking for a great deal. But that’s all irrelevant here.
Trump himself has been very consistent about his preference for foreign autocrats, especially Putin, and his (at best) disinterest and siding with Ukraine and (actually) explicit antagonism towards not only Zelensky, but Europe’s democracies more generally.
MAGA, the German Far Right, and the Transnational Assault on Democracy
A reflection on the German far right, Musk’s interference in the German election, and why the MAGA-AfD alliance isn’t nearly as irresistible as they want us to believe.
Some thoughts (and link below):
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The results of the German election are in. On the one hand: About three quarters of the voting public stuck with democratic parties. On the other: The AfD got 20.8 percent of the vote - by far the strongest result the far right has achieved in Germany since 1945.
After it was founded in 2013, the AfD quickly evolved from what was initially mainstream-rightwing-to-reactionary territory into a far-right party that fully rejects liberal democracy and is undoubtedly the political home of Germany’s rightwing extremists.
I wrote a long profile of him: He’s one of the architects of Project 2025, an avowed Christian nationalist, and a radical ideologue of the “post-constitutional” Right
Vought is at war with pluralistic democracy (link below):
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Vought will be singularly focused on bending the entire government machine to Trump’s will. He believes that any check on the power of Donald Trump, who Vought literally describes as a “gift of God,” is illegitimate. There is no line he doesn’t feel justified to cross.
Key to understanding Vought’s worldview is the idea that the constitutional order - and with it the “natural” order itself - has been destroyed: The revolution has already happened, “the Left” won. Therefore, conservatives err when they try to preserve what is no more.
Russell Vought will be a key figure in the regime, as competent as he is radical. He’s one of the architects of Project 2025, an avowed Christian nationalist, an ideologue of the “post-constitutional” Right.
Key to Vought’s worldview is the idea that the constitutional order - and with it the “natural” order itself - has been destroyed: The revolution has already happened, “the Left” won. Therefore, conservatives categorically err when they try to preserve what is no more.
Power now lies with a “permanent ruling class” of leftist elites who control all major institutions of life and especially the “woke and weaponized” agencies of the state. In order to defeat them, conservatives must become “radical constitutionalists” - and take radical action.
Lots of talk about the OMB because of the utterly illegal funding freeze it issued.
A reminder that Russell Vought, the guy Trump wants to lead the agency, seeks to “traumatize” civil servants, use the military to suppress protests, and sees Trump as an agent of God’s will. 🧵
Vought will be singularly focused on bending the entire government machine to Trump’s will. He steadfastly believes that any check on the president’s power – on the power of Donald Trump, specifically, who Vought literally describes as a “gift of God” – is illegitimate.
Vought may look like a boring bureaucrat. But he is a committed ideologue, convinced to be fighting a noble war to defend his “real America” of white Christian patriarchal rule, where people like him get to dominate the public square and define who belongs.
Been asked so many times: “What do you think will happen?”
We will know a lot more soon. But I do think it’s helpful to clarify expectations. The baseline, for me: Being lawless does not make Trump omnipotent. Yet the situation is significantly more dangerous than in 2017.
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We must resist the temptation to perpetuate Trump’s constant attempts to assert dominance by reflexively despairing over our supposedly hopeless situation. MAGA desires to project power and strength – something we should subvert rather than confirm. 2/
Being lawless does not make Trump omnipotent, and obscuring that distinction is an act of defeatism that only serves the regime. There is a vast gulf between Trump’s authoritarian aspirations on the one hand and the realities of a complex modern state and society on the other. 3/