I think it's obviously true that Trump was not very good at using the power of the state etc., but we've absolutely seen glimpses of the kind of power that totalitarian movements have to deny and distort reality: the insistent lying and invention of bizarre conspiracies etc.
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This question "Are they just delusional or do they really believe this insanity?" that we are constantly forced to ask is precisely the same question people as about totalitarian regimes, because they practice a politics that confounds the boundaries between belief and cynicism
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The response to this by critics on the left is often to point to precedents, "Oh, the Bush administration did so and so," Yes, of course there are precedents, this type of politics requires time to crystallize and damage to be done
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When you point to pure facts like "there are paramilitaries, there is street fighting, there is an effort to overturn election", critics have to respond with a series of interpretations, namely "it's not very powerful, it's a bunch of loser jerks", maybe, but the facts remain
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Being charitable, I think the problem is that this type of politics outrages common sense, so the reaction of sensible people is often to be like "oh this couldn't be happening because its absurd", sometimes that judgment will be correct, of course, but sometimes it will not
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I still think the intellectually honest approach to this era and its politics is that it poses real serious challenges to our powers judgment, and its not really that easy to dismiss or encapsulate whats going on with a phrase
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Replying to @lionel_trolling
What we’re experiencing is not more or less absurd than the decades-long absurd and occasionally violent post-Reconstruction efforts to lie and steal and force a reimposition of white supremacy and one-party rule in the south. Sometimes led by losers & buffoons. But it worked.
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Replying to @pashulman @lionel_trolling
Yes. The men who toppled the Reconstruction government in South Carolina weren’t particularly intelligent or far-sighted or even strong-willed. They just were willing to use violence and coercion where others weren’t.
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In all seriousness, you should get the Times to let you do a podcast about Reconstruction. It would be a public service and also have an audience.
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Replying to @HeerJeet @GreatDismal and
Already happened at
@Slate https://slate.com/podcasts/reconstruction …1 reply 0 retweets 7 likes
Yes, but worth revisiting!
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