David Frum appeared on MSNBC and said, Trump “is weak, he is heading for a historic political defeat–one that will likely take the Republican Senate down with him. He is terrified all the time. His bravado is a carapace around his fear.“ Trump’s brand is built around winning. In his world—where cheating and breaking rules …
When Your Brand is Built On Winning, What Happens When You Lose? Read More »
Today is an important anniversary. 69 years ago, on April 23, 1951, in Farmville, VA, Barbara Johns led a walkout of her segregated high school to protest the unfair and deplorable conditions of her school. What?! You don’t know who Barbara Johns was? She led her walkout more than 4 years before Rosa Parks refused …
Trump has no interest in controlling the pandemic. He wants to control the narrative. To answer this question, I will weave together: The purpose of government The limits of Sadopopulism, and Trump’s lifelong formula: what matters is the appearance of success. Let’s look at two opposing theories about the purpose of government: Democratic and Hierarchical. …
This morning, Trump Tweeted this: “Attack immigrants” didn’t work. He knew he’d better come up with something. Wait . . . a movie . . .Wag the Dog! (For Trump, a manufactured crisis works better than a real one) It’s what I’ve called the Outrage Cycle. It’s a simple, effective formula. Trump says something outrageous …
This is more of an observation than a full blog post. Locating the problem entirely in Trump’s psyche misses the larger picture and pattern and can give the false impression that removing Trump solves all problems. I don’t doubt that Trump has mental and personality issues, but he also springs from decades of Republican policies. …
A few days ago, I said it wasn’t a coincidence that Trump tweeted “liberate!” and then a few hours later, “liberate” protests appeared. Turns out that the protests were staged and financed by the same folks that made up the Charlottesville crowd. The problem for Trump was that the ploy didn’t work. Trump lost a …
It wasn’t a coincidence that Trump tweeted “liberate” yesterday morning, and by the afternoon people were demanding that places be liberated. This post will cover: Trump’s “liberate” comment why chaos agents are particularly dangerous right now, and what we need to do. Spoiler: Trump’s way to win the election is to get the fighters fighting …
More democracy is the way to save democracy, or as Obama, said: Don’t believe it? Read this thread by Ben Wikler, Chair of the Wisconsin Democratic Party: Usually I post my own threads here, but this time I want to share with you the story of what happened in Wisconsin, as only Ben Wikler can …
Part I is here. I think we agree that our democratic institutions are being battered and undermined. By democratic institutions I mean courts (independent judiciary), laws, reporters (free press), elections, prosecutorial discretion, Congressional oversight, etc. I’ll include truth itself. Trump is a literal wrecking ball. He has openly declared war on democratic institutions and batters …
Trump fired Inspector General Michael Atkinson saying this: Then on Monday, Trump fired deputy IG, Glenn Fine, which removes him from his role as chair of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee. Again, Trump was open about why: He didn’t think Fine was loyal enough to him. Benjamin Wittes, writing for Lawfare, asks why this isn’t …
