2. Here's what I wrote in October 2016, a month before Trump was elected: "As president, Trump—a con man who traffics in dark fantasy—would quickly find himself constrained by the realities of actual government."https://newrepublic.com/article/137076/worst-case-trump …
-
Show this thread
-
3. me, Oct. 2016: "The Constitution makes it difficult to pull off the kind of Putinesque strong-arming that Trump admires. Instead, he would be forced to try, & ultimately fail, to be what he is not: a capable & measured leader, his power subject to the checks and balances..."
4 replies 8 retweets 61 likesShow this thread -
4. I also argued, at length, that Trump should be seen as part of the continuum of the American right, rather than compared to foreign dictators (as folks like Timothy Synder were)https://newrepublic.com/article/140952/horrible-histories-perils-comparing-trump-stalin-hitler-dictators …
2 replies 12 retweets 66 likesShow this thread -
4. The area of disagreement I have with Corey Robin is not over Trump's power, but over his impact. I believe that even if Trump is ineffectual in policy terms, his position as president still allows him to spread conspiratorial, anti-democratic & racist ideas
3 replies 18 retweets 129 likesShow this thread -
5. I happen to think that having a president who routinely mocks the rule of law (by calling for his opponents to be jailed) and civic equality (by using racism to rally his base) is corrosive to democracy. I still don't understand why Corey Robin doesn't think so.
8 replies 24 retweets 169 likesShow this thread -
6. And, again: the fact that Trump is weak & ineffectual doesn't mean he isn't also authoritarian: the two feed off each other. Trump's weakness leads to incendiary rhetoric ("enemies of the people" stuff), some of which has a real world effect.
8 replies 25 retweets 187 likesShow this thread -
7. Me (slack-jawed imbecile): Having a president spewing racism all the time is bad. You (genius tenured professor): Oh, so you believe in Green Lanternism, do you?
7 replies 19 retweets 123 likesShow this thread -
Replying to @HeerJeet
Genius tenured professor: academia and journalism have come together in the worst way possible, unreflectively serving the interests of powerful people. You (slack-jawed imbecile): hey Einstein, how dare you cite me as having views I actually have!
2 replies 0 retweets 0 likes -
Replying to @MarxistTrader
Genius Marxist tweeter take: Yeah, talking about the dangers of a president spewing racism is really serving the interest of powerful people.
1 reply 0 retweets 1 like -
Replying to @HeerJeet
Genius New Republic Journalist: Powerful people are monolithic and all racist
1 reply 0 retweets 1 like
I'm old enough to remember when anti-racism was important to Marxists.
-
-
Replying to @HeerJeet
Still is. The fact that you cloak yourself in anti-racism doesn’t make you any less of a hack.
0 replies 0 retweets 1 likeThanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
-
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.