Thread by @tzimmer_history

Some thoughts on today’s #January6thHearings: A tale of two very different halves for me - but both evoking a sense of dread and acute threat. Trump brought carnage. Unless he is held to account, he will bring a lot more, and the damage will be irreparable.

The first part centered on that December 18 meeting between Trump’s outside team and his White House lawyers: What an absolutely bizarre scene – nothing anyone would have accepted as remotely plausible, had it been presented in a movie or a novel. Trumpism as farce.

And then there were all these ludicrous conspiracists, extremist grifters, and unhinged rightwing activists echoing Trump’s call for a march on DC – what an utterly bizarre spectacle it all was, in so many ways the fitting crescendo to the Trump experience.

All of it would be supremely entertaining (and in the darkest, most voyeuristic way it kind of is) – were it not for the fact that the guy at the center of it all, Donald Trump, is still the leader of the American Right, having the support of nearly the entire Republican Party.

Some of this was so clownish and buffoonish, it could easily have the effect of making it all seem less serious, less dangerous than it actually was. “A coup, you say? Engineered by Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, led by Donald Trump?!” Yes. Exactly.

Let’s never forget: There is no higher law of nature that says democracy can’t be brought down by a bunch of comical clowns and grifters – if they have enough support from people and institutions who decide to enable them, make common cause with them.

Always remember: Some of history’s most successful authoritarians were considered goons and buffoons by their contemporaries - until they became goons and buffoons in power. It’s a charade, until it’s not; they are ridiculous clowns, until they are not.

And when democracy’s gone, it’s gone – no matter how ridiculous its demise. #Jan6thHearings

Nothing even remotely funny about what happened after that bizarre Dec. 18 meeting, and Trump’s subsequent call for action: A devastating window in the mobilization of these fascistic, white supremacist militant groups that are trying to establish a culture of violent threat.

American carnage: The rise of far-right militancy and fascistic brutality, of vigilante violence and white supremacist terrorism, a culture of violent threat that’s jeopardizing the foundations of democracy. And it’s all rapidly moving towards the center of conservative politics.

Democracy depends on people feeling safe in the public square. If they don’t, because it’s ruled by intimidation and threats of violence, they won’t be able to participate as citizens. It’s what these extremists want: Rule and dominate through violence, coercion, and harassment.

This kind of fascistic, white supremacist violence is certainly not a new phenomenon: There’s not a moment in history when it wasn’t an important element in American life, and far-right extremist ideas and actors were always an important factor on the Right.

But that the Republican Party remains united behind a man who was so actively and clearly aligned with these fascistic extremists, that it has normalized and embraced them, particularly on the state and local level - that’s still cause for alarm.

One last though, on today’s witnesses: A former Trumpist who stormed the Capitol, and a former Oath Keeper. I’m fairly certain, considering their past affiliations, that their vision for the country doesn’t necessarily align with the idea of multiracial, pluralistic democracy.

They are no heroes. But it is very notable that they no longer support Donald Trump. They seem to have decided that, whatever else is going on, Trumpism is a bridge too far. That very much distinguishes them from Bill Barr, or Rusty Bowers, or Mike Pence.

I’m pretty sure the committee would not have presented them as witnesses if they hadn’t come to that realization: Supporting Trump is unacceptable. We should be expecting at least as much from elite Republicans as we do from these ordinary citizens. Democracy depends on it.