Thank you for the tip, Kathleen. So much goodness here, and I haven't gone beyond the first 4 pages.
So I printed the whole thing and will read.
BTW, I am currently reading "Illiberal America: A History" by Steven Hahn (https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393635928). I've just started it. He begins with the illiberalism of the Puritans and then on to the pre-colonial backcountry of the colonies to show it's been in our political DNA from the start, as Kagan argues.
A key issue for me is whether Trump is a special case and future Republican nominees will go back to being like other Republican presidents, or whether Trump created a new things in which every Republican nominee will attempt to become a dictator.
In the first case, the safest course of action would be for Trump to lose in November, after which we return to normal politicians in both parties. But if the second is the case, the best course would be for Trump to win in November, because he is more likely to be an incompetent strongman who overthrows himself than would a younger man.
An issue for me has been the lackadaisical approach to the Trump threat by the Democratic party. First was it took a week for Dems to deliver articles of impeachment to the Senate. They could have passed it in the wee hours of Jan 7 and hand it to McConnell on that same day. Force the vote when the issue was fresh.
Then why wasn't Trump indicated in 2021? That way they could have the trials in 2022 and 2023 in time for Republicans to nominate someone else.
The whole thing smacks of buck passing and playing politics.
Kagan is right I believe. This is why the issue should be dealt with dispatch.
We see the same thing in foreign policy. Nothing is done with dispatch. Russia is gathering troops on Ukraine's border looking like they are going to invade. US intelligence concludes they are going to invade. So what is the US position?
At the time I thought if the US wanted to send a message to Russia that invasion was unacceptable, the US would send in troops into Ukraine for wargames with the Ukrainians. Since the US did not do that, and we were told right after the invasion began that Kyiv would fall in a week, I concluded that the US found the Russia conquest of Ukraine acceptable.
Thank you for the tip, Kathleen. So much goodness here, and I haven't gone beyond the first 4 pages.
So I printed the whole thing and will read.
BTW, I am currently reading "Illiberal America: A History" by Steven Hahn (https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393635928). I've just started it. He begins with the illiberalism of the Puritans and then on to the pre-colonial backcountry of the colonies to show it's been in our political DNA from the start, as Kagan argues.
Thank you for sharing this
The article remains paywalled for me.
If you are having problems accessing the article, please copy the URL below. Seems to work for me.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/04/24/trump-tyranny-christian-nationalist-democracy/
Techno idiot that I am, I may have fixed the links. Please try again and let me know.
TRUMP 🇺🇸 2024
Can’t Happen Soon Enough
A key issue for me is whether Trump is a special case and future Republican nominees will go back to being like other Republican presidents, or whether Trump created a new things in which every Republican nominee will attempt to become a dictator.
In the first case, the safest course of action would be for Trump to lose in November, after which we return to normal politicians in both parties. But if the second is the case, the best course would be for Trump to win in November, because he is more likely to be an incompetent strongman who overthrows himself than would a younger man.
I tried all three links, and it is paywalled for me as well.
Try this: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/04/24/trump-tyranny-christian-nationalist-democracy/
No it didn't work, it must be because I once had a subscription, and I refuse to sign in to them again.
Scary article. More later
An issue for me has been the lackadaisical approach to the Trump threat by the Democratic party. First was it took a week for Dems to deliver articles of impeachment to the Senate. They could have passed it in the wee hours of Jan 7 and hand it to McConnell on that same day. Force the vote when the issue was fresh.
Then why wasn't Trump indicated in 2021? That way they could have the trials in 2022 and 2023 in time for Republicans to nominate someone else.
The whole thing smacks of buck passing and playing politics.
I think Biden and the Democrats were trying not to look too bloodthirsty. But the Republicans proclaim that they are bloodthirsty anyway.
Kagan's main point is that these are deeply ingrained attitudes that have been with us for 200 years. This will be a long-term process.
Kagan is right I believe. This is why the issue should be dealt with dispatch.
We see the same thing in foreign policy. Nothing is done with dispatch. Russia is gathering troops on Ukraine's border looking like they are going to invade. US intelligence concludes they are going to invade. So what is the US position?
At the time I thought if the US wanted to send a message to Russia that invasion was unacceptable, the US would send in troops into Ukraine for wargames with the Ukrainians. Since the US did not do that, and we were told right after the invasion began that Kyiv would fall in a week, I concluded that the US found the Russia conquest of Ukraine acceptable.