. . . the federal government (or administrative state, or "deep state") put in place since the New Deal and Civil Rights movement, this can be done slowly and methodically, as the GOP did before Trump, or they can bring in a wrecking ball and do it faster.
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Trump is the wrecking ball. One way to destroy is to send an armed militia against Congress.
Another way is to spread destructive lies.
Another way is to unleash a propaganda machine.
We have both a law enforcement problem and a political problem.
In John Eastman's application for TRO fighting the Jan6 committee's subpoena, he argued that (1) the committee lacked authority to issue the subpoena, and that the subpoena violated his 1st and 4th Amendment rights.
It's just easier to destroy rule of law than to preserve it.
It's easier to dismantle a government than to use government to improve the lives of the people, particularly when another party is trying to dismantle the government.
That's why Republicans have the easier task.
Huge advantage: Right-wing authoritarians fall in line. They prefer to move in lockstep.
On the other hand, if you want to move forward and improve people's lives, there are lots of different paths and people disagree on how to best move forward.
I would have been shocked if they took it. This is a blow to all the Trump allies saying they don't have to comply with the select committee because of executive privilege.
Trump can try again with future tranches of docs -- if he enjoys losing 🤣.
This should matter. Trump came to power on two lies
🔹"I'm a successful businessman" positioning him as a strongman and winner, and
🔹Birtherism, signaling that he was a white supremacist tapping into white grievance.
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Back when I was naive (2015) I thought it would matter if his base had to grapple with the fact that he wasn't successful: He inherited wealth and then cheated and swindled.
Now I'm afraid lie #2 Birtherism matters more and brazen lying and cheating is part of his appeal.
2/