No Time To Panic
A Mastodon user said this:
There is never a time to panic. Even in an airplane emergency, a cool head saves lives.
But Teri! Trump is openly running for president as an autocrat and he has a non-zero chance of winning!
Yup. If you haven’t been paying attention, Trump is echoing Hitler with comments like these:
- “Immigrants are poisoning the blood of our country.“
- “We pledge to you that we will root out the communists, Marxist, fascists and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country.”
I could fill a page with examples, but you get the idea. Yes, it’s scary.
Panic contributes to the spectacle
Timothy Snyder, in his book The Road to Unfreedom, explains that creating crisis and spectacle is the way modern oligarchs gain and maintain power. They do outrageous things to keep everyone spinning and lurching from one drama to another. The public is kept off balance, facts get lost in the noise, and eventually people wear out and stop paying attention.
Democratic leaders, when they go to work, try to implement policies that help their constituents. Oligarchs and would-be oligarchs can’t do that because the policies they implement benefit the oligarchs and hurt the common people. So instead of promising to improve the lives of the people, they promise to protect them from enemies.
Snyder calls it sadopopulism and it goes like this:
- Enact policies that create pain in their own supporters
- Identify an “enemy”
- Blame the pain on the “enemies”
- Present themselves as the strongman who can defeat the enemies.
Modern oligarchs figured out that the safest enemies are invented ones. Real enemies might drop bombs on them. But if the enemy is a poor migrant immigrant, they’re safe.
That’s what Trump is doing in all of these comments:
- “Immigrants are poisoning the blood of our country.
- “We pledge to you that we will root out the communists, Marxist, fascists and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country.”
You can see sadopopulism in action with the House Republicans. Their policies hurt their constituents, so in office, they put on a show, the way a magician distracts while he pulls off a deception. “Look over here! Watch us rile the libs. We’re going after the Biden ‘crime family’!” (Meanwhile, they are enacting policies that hurt their constituents.)
DeSantis complained that Trump’s criminal indictments are helping him in the primaries because they “suck out a lot of oxygen.” Republican primary voters are so riled about the indictments (“Witch hunt! Election interference! They’re going after Trump because they know he will win!”) that none of the other Republicans can compete.
The problem for Republican candidates for president is that Trump is a master spectacle-creator who outshines the others. Nobody does crisis and spectacle like Trump. He’s a natural.
Hardcore Trump supporters love the show. A CNN poll showed that 43% of Republicans were more likely to vote for Trump after he made the “poisoning the blood” comment, and 23% less likely. In fact, they’re there for the show. The day-to-day business of governing is dull but landing blows on the enemy is thrilling.
When you panic, you are performing your part in the play. The play has four acts:
- The fascist or would-be fascist says or does something completely outrageous.
- The outrageous action or comment becomes the “news.” Dull things like government policies are pushed off stage.
- As a result of the latest outrage, the autocrat’s enemies have panic meltdowns.
- The autocrat’s supporters cheer to see their enemies having meltdowns.
It also works like this:
- Trump says, “I will go after your enemies!”
- Trump files a ludicrous court filing.
- Democrats have panic meltdowns. “What if the Supreme Court agrees that Trump has absolute criminal immunity??!!!”
- Trump’s supporters see the Democrats having meltdowns.
- Trump’s supporters cheer because powerful Trump is terrifying his enemies 💪
Panic Helps Bury the Facts
Consider what happened with the Mueller Report. The Mueller Report exposed devastating facts about Trump. But because the Mueller Report didn’t result in Trump being hauled off to jail, Trump critics were frustrated and angry, which led everyone to the conclusion that the Mueller Report was a nothingburger. The devastating facts were considered unimportant and ignored.
The show fizzled.
The correct response to the Mueller report was: Look at all of these devastating facts 🤓. Instead, the response was MUELLER FAILED BECAUSE TRUMP WASN’T HAULED OFF TO JAIL. Does anyone even remember now what those devastating facts were?
Nope, they have been buried and forgotten.
It looks like the same mistakes will be made with the Trump investigations. Instead of saying, “Wow, look at what facts are being uncovered,” there are still partisan pundits shouting, “IT’S ALL GARLAND’S FAULT FOR SLOW-WALKING THE INVESTIGATION FOR A FULL YEAR” and then millions of viewers go off into an outraged spin over something invented. Facts get lost in an avalanche of rage-inducing nonsense. (Yes, it’s still happening. Larry Tribe is at it again.)
(If you think Garland slow-walked the investigation, click here and start reading.)
Also, shouting, “The DOJ didn’t do this in time for the election!” makes it sound like the value of the prosecution is that it went after our political enemies. Stop to think about whether that’s a good idea.
Spreading Panic Alienates People who are pro-Democracy
In Wrong: How Media, Politics, and Identity Drive our Appetite for Misinformation, Young talks about how the fracturing of media has driven people into highly partisan information ecosystems that become increasinly frantic, with people repeating each other’s rage-inducing simplifications. (The phrase “rage-inducing simplification” is mine, not Young’s.)
The constant rage and hysteria causes a large portion of the population to tune it out, which is no surprise. Democracy and rule of law are supposed to look like this: 🤔 and ⚖️ . Voters weigh policy options. It’s boring.
Fascism looks like this: 💣 and 🔥. It’s thrilling! We are fighting the enemy!
People who are, by nature, pro-rule of law and pro-democracy cannot tolerate too much 🔥. They want 🤔 and ⚖️ . Therefore, if the entire public sphere is filled with rage, fury, and panic, they will tune out.
The way to make sure Trump loses the election is not to spread panic because people who can’t tolerate all the crisis and spectacle will stop listening. The way to do it is the old-fashioned way. Talk to people about issues that matter to them. Do they care about the right to choose? Make sure they know that women are being prosecuted for having abortions and some women are having their health endangered by being denied medically-necessary abortions. Do they care about the environment? Talk to them about Republican policies about the environment. Do they care about economic fairness? Talk to them about the implications of Republicans tax policies.
Panic is Draining and Leads to Burn Out
No one can do the work necessary to save democracy if they’re worn out from all the panic. Susan B. Anthony, Thurgood Marshall, and Pauli Murray didn’t panic when they saw the injustice around them. They got to work. (To find out what you can do to help with the next election, click here.)
Panic (like shock) comes from faulty thinking
Part of the faulty thinking goes like this: “All was going well until Trump appeared and now we are in trouble!” The faulty thinking comes from the idea that nothing like this has ever happened or would ever happen in the United States. (If you think the United States has never had an autocratic regime, think about what life was like for a Black woman in 1850.)
The heros of the past have brought us a long way, but there is always more work to do, and democracy is always fragile.
The Antidote to Panic is Knowledge and Perspective
The better we understand the current political situation in the context of American history, the better able we are to understand how to move forward. History teaches us possibilities.
Here are a few suggestions (I posted this list previously):
Simple Justice by Richard Kluger purports to be a history of Brown v. Board of Education, the case that desegregated schools in America, but in fact, it is a history of the struggle of Black Americans to achieve equal rights. It also provides an excellent account of how our laws can change. A must-read for anyone interested in racial equality and the legal system.
Make No Law by Anthony Lewis offers an in-depth look at New York Times v. Sullivan and a landmark First Amendment case. After you read it, you will cringe when you hear people asking why the liars are not all put in prison.
I am recommending Heather Cox Richardson’s history books because she makes lots of interesting points including this one: We have had two oligarchies: The era of slavery and the era of robber barons. We are now tipping toward a third. This perspective is vital because people tend to think “OMG nothing like this has ever happened before,” which leads to panic and despair. 
I’m putting one of mine on here. A history of women’s rights in America, how they evolved, and how the legal system can be used as a vehicle for change.
One of the best books for understanding the worldwide rise in right-wing extremism is Timothy Snyder’s The Road to Unfreedom:
May 2024 be the year of good books and the year the Republican Party gets a drubbing in the presidential election.
🎊 🎉 🎊
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Thanks, Teri for giving me strength and determination in these times of chaos. I have read “Riifka”; delightful. Will read “Firehose of Falsehood”. The podcast with Leigh McGowan was super. I love JJ.
I’ve ordered your Firehose to Falsehood, and started reading Wrong. It’s such a significant book at this time in our lives.
Thank you for giving us a way to go forward in strength and determination.
Thank you! A brilliant and timely call to REAL action, not panic. In fact, part of the spectacle is that Republicans are panicking, because Democrats have won nearly every election since 2016: Took back the House in 2018, Presidency and took back Senate in 2020, defeated the predicted “red wave” in 2022, defeated draconian abortion policies in numerous states, etc. etc. When we do the work, we win.
Timely, well-stated, great links.
Thank you Teri, and Bonne Année (from an expat who wants to go home to a boring, functional, living democracy). I’d be interested in the relationship between panic and depression…the latter sometimes being a passive form of the former?
Just might buy your new book. Thanks so much for all of your insights.
Rousing as always, Teri!
Tonight I celebrate. Tomorrow I sleep off tonight. Then it’s boots on and back to work, same as it ever was. Happy New Year to you and JJ.
Quite Frankly I have said since 2016 , we are living wirh an alcoholic father; you never know what is coming through the door. Nailbiting. Yet the media makes lots of money off this reality show fsscist.
Thank you again for the sanity, Teri!
I just came back from Mexico, where the sign in our hotel reminded us to, in case of fire or hurricane or tsunami, “No tenga pánico.”
Here’s what Monika Bauerlein, the CEO of Mother Jones, had to say. Let’s not give the snake what it wants!
‘We’re on the eve of another presidential election—how did three years go by so fast?—, and the stakes for democracy seem catastrophically high. Our screens are full of news of war. And so, the dread, the sense that more bad stuff is coming and you can’t do anything about it. It’s the paralyzing feeling of the rabbit staring at the snake.
‘Which is exactly what the snake wants.
‘And that’s what I try to remember to help me snap out of the dread.
‘I remember that I have the ability to stop staring at the snake. I have the ability to DO STUFF—sometimes a little, sometimes a lot.’
Excellent post Teri, it really resonated with me, & I’m eager to share it with others. I don’t often comment on your posts, but find them enlightening & often calming. No Time To Panic underscores why. So grateful for your insights & methodical, straight forward approach to presenting facts. Wishing you, your family, & your followers a very Happy New Year!
Thank you for this post and reminder
Teri – I’d love to hear you speak especially after this blog post & am curious if you are ever a guest on any of the news programs? I actually don’t own a tv but do watch a lot of clips as they are always posted online.
Thank you for making a post this New Year’s Eve & here’s wishing you & yours all the best in the New Year 🙂
I was recently on the Politics Girl podcast.
That was a good interview tying a bunch of things you’ve been writing about together.
Teri, thank you so much for thinking through and posting “No Time To Panic”.
It’d be good if all the judges were to read this ready for 2024…
Simple magic tricks work best with children.
2024 has to be a year where the child-like voters become grown-ups and see that there’s no magic, but that they are being tricked. That what really matters is empathy, reason and working together. That evidence gives us the facts, which give us the truths.
Look forward greatly to hearing from you again, Happy New Year from England!
Yours sincerely,
Ken Allsopp
Teri, thanks for a perfect post to end a tumultuous 2023 and get in a productive frame of mind for what will be an even more exhausting 2024 for those who succumb to the panic being fueled by the GOP and their standard bearer. May democracy prevail because voters take your advice regarding reminding our friends and loved ones of what they value and which candidates will bring forth those policies to improve their lives. Remain steady, America. Don’t fall for the drama and feed it. Rather, fight it with truth and reason.
Thank you for your most excellent post and links…our choice in 2024 will be bilateral—DEMOCRACY or DICTATORSHIP…this stark reality is still not understood by millions of Americans, that this year our personal freedoms are all at risk. We must stop pussyfooting around this choice and put it out there for those millions of undecideds—DEMOCRACY or DICTATORSHIP!
I use STOP to fight panic
Stop Think Observe Plan
Thank you Teri
Happy New Year 2024
love this. thank you Michelle.
Excellent mnemonic.
Thank you for the links and the explanation of things. Many years ago, I took a class on the history of “modern” Europe. The required reading included Bullock’s tome on the rise and fall of Hitler. The title is Hitler: A Study of Tyranny. It introduced me to Fascism and the tactics of “creating” events that spawned the German aggressions that culminated with WWII. The Geobel’s Diaries explained how “rage events” could be used to direct the population’s attention on topics that the government wanted to direct their ire upon. Seems to me that they are still being used by the Right to keep Trump in pursuit of power. Panic (especially directed panic) and disinformation aren’t new. Yellow Journalism, performative news releases, social media all make a huge mess out of the country. All of those act to corroborate your observations in this blog post. Again thank you for reminding me to stop and think before panicking.
As Dan Pfeiffer says, “Worry about everything; panic about nothing”
Douglas Adams would be in agreement. He would also recommend carrying a towel. Good advice in any solar system. The assessment of “mostly harmless” seems optimistic. Thanks Teri. I appreciate your efforts.
I kept thinking of the late great Mr. Adams as well.
And I won’t be surprised if the dolphins fly off any day now! Though I hope they won’t.
I’m delighted to see your pre-release copies of “Firehose…” in your box!
Thank you, Teri–and here’s to a good “drubbing”–perfect word! Happy New Year to you.
Great work as usual. I especially like your pointing out the media shell game Trump plays. If everyone is talking about the outrageous thing Trump said yesterday, they’re not talking about the court cases, or new information about the insurrection or great Hunter Biden penis hunt. It’s all distraction all the time, which shell is the ball under now. This and your patient repetition of how the criminal justice system actually works are a great service to us all.
I love when you appear in my inbox, and somehow found a thread of yours on mastodon the other day. Thanks, as always, for keeping my cell padded.
“(If you think the United States has never had an autocratic regime, think about what life was like for a Black woman in 1850.)”
You don’t even have to go back that far. Think about life during the McCarthy Era in the 1950s (I heard about it a lot from my mother when I was growing up).
Times of turmoil? I grew up in the 1960s, in the midst of the Civil Rights and the anti-Vietnam War movements, when leaders were being assassinated (one of my first memories is JFK’s funeral) and students killed by national guardsmen for protesting at Kent State.
We got through those horrors. If we work together instead of giving up in panic, we’ll be able to get through these times as well.
Thank you, Teri, for your clear explanations and putting things in perspective.
Hopefully this article will point people in a better direction than panicking. You’re right. Panic solves nothing. Cool, reasoned thinking is the best option.
One more book I’d add to your list is Heather Cox Richardson’s latest one – “Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America.” In it through 30 short essays, she gives readers a solid understanding of how we got here, and more importantly, how we got out of our previous oligarchic threats and strengthened our democracy each time. I read this one as soon as it arrived on publication day, and I wrote an essay about it shortly after that. See: http://agoodreedreview.com/2023/10/01/book-democracy-awakening/
It takes an engaged electorate to make democracy work as you and all you mention observe. We all have work to do.
I heartily agree that Dr Richardson’s most recent book is a necessary read to understand the history of the Republican Party since Reagan and the slide to authoritarianism. She underscores your blog and gives solutions and activism ideas at the grassroots level that we can do to communicate the causes of democracy.
Yes, Heather Cox Richardson provides plenty of ideas on what to do in her latest book. Teri does as well right here on her blog. The article, https://terikanefield.com/things-to-do/, is linked in this current post.
I rather like Richardson’s plea to “take up oxygen,” which is one she mentions often in her live sessions. Writing, talking to people, leading by example. Explaining both the responsibility of voting, and the consequences of the choices we make. After all, inaction is a choice with potentially dire consequences. People need to realize that too.
This reminds me of Rudy Giuliani’s tenure as Mayor. Everyone outside of New York thinks he was “America’s Mayor” but that was so, so untrue, to anyone who lived there who was paying attention. The most on the nose example I can think of was when he was trying to recover from the horrifying case where the police sexually abused an innocent man, Abner Louima, while allegedly invoking Giuliani’s name (I think that might have been an embellishment). The Brooklyn Museum was hosting an exhibit that included some imagery that was considered anti-religious (excrement on the Virgin Mary, etc), and Giuliani made a big damn deal of filing a lawsuit to shut down the exhibit. The lawsuit was immediately dismissed because it had no merit at all, but I heard from friends outside of NYC about how he so bravely stood up to say that the taxpayer would not pay for such obscenity. And suddently New Yorkers noticed that there was a credible museum in Brooklyn and there were lines around the block (I always assumed there was an actual coordination between Giuliani’s aides and the museum staff). He thought he could run for president at that time and this was his blatant effort to use smoke and mirrors to distract from the true corruption in his administration. Everyone who says “what happened to Guiliani” just didn’t see what he was really doing in New York.
Great article.
Panic never solved a problem.
thank you, thank you, Teri! Happy and a healthy new year, to you and yours. We are very lucky to have your voice of reason, intelligence and wisdom to guide us.
^this