Thomas Zimmer Profile picture
Jan 20, 2022 6 tweets 3 min read Read on X
This is a bizarre attack by Politico’s chief Europe correspondent on @ardenthistorian’s book about the Christian Right: It completely distorts what the book does, even alleging fraud, which is utterly shameful. A bad-faith hit job of the worst kind. “Journalism” this ain’t.
The book is not beyond reproach, none ever is. But @ardenthistorian’s main arguments are in line with the latest scholarship by U.S. historians, political scientists, and sociologists - if that’s proof of “anti-American sentiment,” then I guess those disciplines are all guilty?
Don’t believe me? That’s fine. But you know, you should be expected to have done at least some of the reading - I suggest starting with the latest work by people like Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Anthea Butler, or Robert P. Jones. Are they all just selling anti-American distortions? Hm.
This whole chimera of “pro-Americanism” or “anti-Americanism” is useless. Those are ideological terms, intended to (de-)legitimize the enemy, with little substantive value. The sharpest critique of the American Right comes from American scholars and observers. Now what?
The substantive deficiencies of Karnitschnig’s critique are glaring. But they don’t explain the nastiness on display here. I’m not going to speculate about what else is animating this assault, but let’s not pretend this in anything but an aggressive character assassination.
This isn’t a serious critique, it’s certainly not intended to stimulate a substantive debate, and it’s not journalism by any reasonable definition. A terrible look for Politico - and for anyone applauding this kind of uninformed and / or disingenuous hit job.

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More from @tzimmer_history

Mar 31
What does the U.S. look like in five or ten years?
 
I was asked to reflect on this question, alongside other scholars. In a stable democracy, the range of plausible outcomes is narrow. But for America, it now includes complete democratic breakdown.
 
wapo.st/44bN4i6
There should not have been any doubt about the intention of the Trumpists. They desire to erect a form of plebiscitary autocracy, constantly invoking the true “will of the people” while aggressively narrowing the boundaries of who gets to belong and whose rights are recognized.
At every turn, the response to the rise of Trumpism has been hampered by a lack of political imagination – a lingering sense that “It cannot happen here” (or not anymore), fueled by a deep-seated mythology of exceptionalism, progress gospel, and willful historical ignorance.
Read 8 tweets
Mar 16
Sunday reading: What Authoritarianism Means
 
I wrote about why even critical observers underestimated the speed and scope of the Trumpist assault, why they overestimated democratic resilience – about what America is now, and what comes next?
 
New piece (link below) My latest Democracy Americana Newsletter: “What Authoritarianism Means: Even critical observers underestimated the speed and scope of the Trumpist assault, they overestimated democratic resilience. What is America now, and what comes next?”
I take stock of where we are after two months of Trumpist rule, explore that space between (no longer) democracy and full-scale autocracy where America exists now, reflect on what competitive authoritarianism means in theory and practice, and recalibrate my expectations.
I revisit “The Path to Authoritarianism,” a crucial essay Steven Levitsky and Lucan Way published in Foreign Affairs in early February. It captured their expectations at the outset of the Trumpist regime – a powerful warning that has nevertheless been overtaken by events already.
Read 8 tweets
Mar 1
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.
Read 10 tweets
Feb 25
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):

🧵 Image
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.
Read 15 tweets
Feb 7
Last night, the Senate confirmed Russell Vought.

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):

🧵 Image
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.
Read 12 tweets
Jan 29
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.

He’s at war with pluralistic democracy.

Why is this guy so angry?

🧵
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.
Read 9 tweets

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