People are frustrated that Trump and pals aren’t deterred by the threat of subpoenas.
I have some bad news: You can expect lots more Trump-GOP lawbreaking before this is over.
These three things are appening at once:
- Trump and friends openly break laws;
- The Trump-FOX GOP pretend it isn’t happening; and
- The Trump-FOX-GOP accuse Democrats of made-up crimes. (This started decades ago with Whitewater and is happening now with the FISA-warrant made-up scandal.)
Trump’s supporters know he is a law breaker. Many voted for him BECAUSE he is a law breaker. He ran on a promise to destroy the political establishment. What do you think that means? His supporters love that he defies “norms.”
The problem isn’t a lawbreaker in the White House. The problem is that a major political party supports him and 42% of the population approves of him.
First let’s consider the reasons the Fox-GOP tolerates a lawbreaker. When we understand the problem, we can find a solution.
Reason #1: Some Trump supporters want to destroy the federal government because of a “crisis of legitimacy” which happens when people don’t think the government governs on their behalf. See: “The Authentic Appeal of the Lying Demagogue.”
They think the “political establishment” is favoring new groups over“real” Americans. Exactly what Laura Ingraham explained here.
Reason #2: Some Trump supporters cheer the lawbreaking because they don’t believe those laws should exist. They want to go back to the 1920s, before the New Deal, Civil Rights legislation, and regulatory agencies. They despise the regulations that, in their view, infringe on their personal liberty. They want to be able to do what they want, and those pesky laws get in the way. See.
Reason #3: Greed. You can get richer faster if you ignore the laws. You can get richer even faster if you take Russian money.
Reason #4: Trump has a strange effect on people. James Comey said: “people lacking inner strength can’t resist the compromises necessary to survive Mr. Trump. . .” Read this passage:
Reason #5: In tribal (us v. them) politics, if “our” team does it, it’s okay. Remember Max Boot’s passage beginning on page 165👇
Boot looks back on a lifetime of conservative / GOP activism, and asks where things went wrong. How did Trump happen? Notice the part about how GOP members ignore “sins” in the name of “unity” on the right.
As a result lawbreaking is no longer disqualifying in the GOP. In fact, it’s become a badge of honor. Lawbreakers are widely seen as heroes.
This astonishing video shows the ovation and applause Roger Stone received at a GOP event in VA after his indictment.
The GOP even act like victims when their lawbreaking is exposed. Text messages reveal that Manafort told Hannity that he did “nothing” and that “they” would “go after” Trump and family next, but he wouldn’t “give” them up. (Sounds like he’s both guilty and a victim, an odd combination.)
What we’re experiencing could be* the last gasp of a dying old regime, the regime of white men doing as they pleased.
(I say “could be” because it depends on how people react.)
When Trump defies court orders, I expect lots of people to declare democracy officially dead.
That is the worst thing to do. I know because it fails the “Putin” test, which goes like this: “Would Putin approve?”Putin WANTS us to declare democracy dead. In fact, a goal of Putin’s Active Measures is to get people to lose faith in democratic systems.
When enough people lose faith (despair and give up) it’s all over.
Harvard Prof. Levitsky talks about why the GOP is so desperately breaking laws: Demographically, their long term and medium term prospects are poor.
The problem is that their base is shrinking, so their medium and long-term prospects are not good.
The Democratic Party, OTOH, has morphed into the party of urban intellectuals, minority communities, and young people.
Democrats own the future.
Levitsky says to treat Trump’s lawbreaking like an earthquake. The way to respond to an earthquake is to move quickly to strengthen the weakened structures.
The analogy is perfect because people keep asking me, “What if the GOP destroys our democratic institutions?”
If the GOP destroys them, we build them back up. Cities rebuild after earthquakes and continue on. Then we prepare for the next earthquake by reinforcing our institutions.
The future is (can be) democratic and diverse, so we want to preserve the institutions as much as possible during the rattling.
