Rush Limbaugh radically transformed the Republican Party. He elevated conservative media into a coequal branch of party politics, and pioneered a style of rhetoric, argument, and entertainment that would come to define conservative politics. The things we now think of as particularly Trumpian features of conservatism — the insults, the conspiracies, the blend of entertainment and politics and anger — Limbaugh had been doing it for a quarter-century before Trump showed up to the party.

Impeachment 2.0, which is about to get underway, is extraordinary and unprecedented, as were the acts that brought it about: the effort of a president AND HIS PARTY to overthrow an election, backed by a violent mob. /1 Trump’s lawyers and his supporters have tried to leverage the unprecedented nature of this impeachment as evidence of how determined Democrats are to take down Trump. /2

Donald Trump is leaving the White House within the hour. Re-reading his inaugural speech from four years ago, it’s clear the two words he wanted to define his presidency were “America first.” But the two words that ultimately did were “American carnage.” /1 Even the opening lines are a reminder of what his presidency cost us: “Every four years, we gather on these steps to carry out the orderly and peaceful transfer of power.” That tradition ended on Jan. 6. /2

I’ve been thinking about the 1912 election a lot, as one does.

On Oct. 14, Teddy Roosevelt, running for an unprecedented third term, was shot by a would-be assassin. /1 Roosevelt *did* go on to do a campaign event immediately after being shot, though he did not infect the gathered crowd with gunshot wounds. Nor had he spent the previous six months mocking fears of assassination (having become president when Wm McKinley was assassinated). /2

As many (many!) listeners to @thisdaypod noticed, I got a little garbled talking about narwhals in today's episode, calling them "mythic." Just to clarify, I am not a narwhal truther! I just got too excited. @thisdaypod Narwhals are fascinating (real!) creatures, and I have a tiny obsession with them, and did not think I'd get to indulge in that on a podcast about American political history!

Fascinating look at the relationship between Trump, Hannity, and Fox News, excerpted from @brianstelter's new book. vanityfair.com/news/2020/08/s… @brianstelter This, from a veteran staffer, is particularly interesting: “I feel like Fox is being held hostage by its audience." It's common for people to believe Fox manipulates its audience, but the power balance between the network and the audience doesn't quite work that way.

Thrilled to share the trailer for WELCOME TO YOUR FANTASY, our new podcast about how Chippendales, a seedy strip club in West LA, became an international phenomenon — and how paranoia and greed turned it into a hotbed of drugs, corruption, and murder. Of course, it’s not JUST about an international criminal conspiracy. We've also got feminism, culture wars, gay rights, civil rights, ‘80s music, Playboy. Oh, and lots of men taking off their clothes. (On a podcast, so you'll want to follow us on Instagram too!)

The arsonist has been tasked with putting out the fire.

https://twitter.com/AprilDRyan/status/1270433974934999041

nytimes.com/2019/11/18/us/…

We are witnessing one of the most widespread and sustained protests in U.S. history. And while it was spontaneous, it also has been made possible by an infrastructure of activism developed over the past several years, centered in Black Lives Matter and bolstered by other orgs. When historians and sociologists and political scientists dig into this, I suspect we'll find that a significant number of Americans who had not previously been activists became activists, marchers, and protesters over the past decade.

These rumors were spreading in my hometown in Indiana as well.

https://twitter.com/BrandyZadrozny/status/1269374530256076801

It reminds me of a story about Indiana in the 1920s. A Klan leader spread rumors that the pope was on a train headed to town and so a bunch of people headed to the station to get him.

You will be shocked to learn that the pope was not in fact invading rural Indiana.

I was supposed to be speaking at a conference on illiberalism in the United States today. The pandemic canceled the conference, but the illiberalism is still going strong. Looks like we'll have plenty more to say when we finally convene post-pandemic. (And there will be a podcast featuring presenters in the meantime — coming soon!)

For some reason, I can’t stop thinking about all those police officers who stood idly by while white-power terrorists attacked people in Charlottesville. Though there was this too.

People have chosen to radically alter their lives both to avoid getting sick and to save other people's lives.

That is a significant political act, and there is enormous support for it. But it doesn't fit conventional political scripts so it's not understood as political. At least, it's not understood as political in the way the lockdown protests are, even though the protests are much, much smaller and have very little public support.

This piece by @AdamLaats, on how Trump is trading on scientific authority, is so smart. It gets at something important that we miss when we boil down conservative positions to "anti-science" or "anti-fact." hnn.us/article/175180 Adam’s piece, which draws on the history of creationism, looks at how faith-claims get reworked into science-like frames. That allows advocates to appeal both to faith *and* science. /2

By not digging into the ways the GOP has driven polarization and the thrashing of political norms, this article ends up both-sidesing a really important point. /1
nytimes.com/2019/12/12/us/… Impeachment may well become more common, bc the GOP is very likely to use it casually. But it doesn't follow that *Democrats* are using it casually, or that Trump has not committed multiple impeachable offenses. /2

A good election-night tell: Is Fox News showing election maps or Tucker Carlson yelling about migrants?

(Tonight it’s migrants.) Migrants and Epstein.

In addition to feeling bad (*stares pointedly at @LAmag*), it should prompt some reflection on what folks writing about dapper Nazis misunderstand about racism and white supremacy. /1

https://twitter.com/JessicaValenti/status/1191377723639369728

I'll keep re-upping this piece forever:

vox.com/the-big-idea/2… /2

Two years ago, @TaranaBurke's #metoo movement gained national prominence. A year later, Renee Branson and I came forward about our experiences of sexual harassment at the Miller Center.

https://twitter.com/pastpunditry/status/1050806601328861185?lang=en

/1 What followed was one of the most challenging years of my life. A series of Title IX investigations, a three-month fellowship that allowed me to escape it all, the revelation that my career at the Miller Center was, effectively, dead. /2

A year ago, I released A12: The Story of Charlottesville, a podcast series that explored the deep history behind the white-power violence in Charlottesville in 2017. /1 pastpundit.com/a12 It was one of those projects that came from a deep inner need to tell this story, to capture the intensity and activism that blanketed the city during the Summer of Hate, and to center the voices of the people of Charlottesville. /2

Last year, I interviewed Mary McCord, who oversaw counterterrorism efforts in her role directing the National Security Division at the DOJ. She’s been working on ways to counter white-power terrorism, securing consent decrees against armed militias after Charlottesville. /1 The U.S. currently lacks domestic terrorism laws, which she sees as a major hindrance to successfully stopping white-power terrorism before it happens and prosecuting it after. She’s written a number of important pieces on this at @lawfareblog: lawfareblog.com/contributors/m…
/2

So excited to share my big news: next month, I start my new job at Columbia University, where I’ll be joining the Obama Presidency Oral History Project at @INCITE_Columbia! /1 incite.columbia.edu/obama-presiden… We’ll be conducting one of the most comprehensive presidential oral histories to date, and designing new ways to bring those histories to the public. /2