What are the reasons behind the pervasive tendency among ostensibly anti-MAGA elites to accommodate authoritarian power and preemptively signal compliance with Trumpism?
I am not only disappointed but very angry at elites who have decided for the millions who have no choice but to live as best we can while potentially being stripped of retirements, benefits, health care, etc. They have no right to legitimize the con man who will destroy as much of the Constitution as he possibly can before he dies or is run out of office because he won’t willingly go.
Thank you again Thomas for your words of wisdom & warning.
We need and deserve a better standard of leadership to confront the authoritarian threat. Polls continue to inform us that the majority of American voters want parties to work together and to maintain the values and ideals of our country.
Defending democracy is boring to too many--while I am a former elected official, friends tell me that I should forget about invites to holiday parties if I talk too much politics. I do understand.
But without local engagement, we may end up relying heavily on prominent individuals and institutions who remain unwilling or unable to model anything beyond compliance with the abnormal. This is abnormal --embrace of authoritarianism, misinformation, and rejection of democratic norms deviates from traditional core values of accountability, truth, and constitutional governance essential to a healthy democracy.
My struggle is trying to find a path. I have a conflict resolution background which emphasizes keeping connections, not humiliating folks, criticizing behaviors not people. How can I accomplish those goals--which I firmly agree with--when the Republicans have demonstrated that are operating in bad faith. They are motivated by power and have been ruthless in that aim.
I saw the sunrise of a black sun in 1980. That was when Ronald Regan became the POTUS. His dementia was the dark sunrise of this modern age. Do I blame him alone? Certainly not. His cohorts darkened the world with all the glamour of patriotism, flag waving, and emotional fireworks.
What Trump saw in his first bid for POTUS, was the underbelly of flag waving patriotism. He saw the hate, discontent, and pure rage of people who believed they were being marginalized in the name of democracy. Liberalism, to those people, was, and is corrosive to their own view of what America is supposed to be. Capitalizing on that, Trump saw his path to the White House paved with discontent, and a malevolence towards anything Liberal, or Democratic.
The easy conversion from anti-MAGA, to "Lets all just get along and be happy neighbors," is based on fear. The shark that is about to eat you can not be placated with your cooperation to be eaten. You can not appease a hungry (power hungry) predator by putting yourself on his dinner plate. You will simply be eaten, then disposed of.
Among all the threats the Trump Presidency and the MAGA Movement pose to democracy, freedom, and the rule of law, perhaps the most important--because potentially the most long lasting--is the normalization of deviance. The phrase "normalization of deviance" was made famous by Dianne Vaughan in her book on the Challenger Disaster. It refers to a process of accepting exceptions to the established norms or rules so frequently that the exception becomes the rule. (In the case of the Challenger, a contractor waived its standard of performance on the O rings so often that it became accepted practice to launch shuttles even though the O ring problem had not been solved--with disastrous results.)
Thomas has raised an extremely important question of the moment: Will we accept the breaches of established norms of democracy that the Trump Presidency will entail? If not, as Gale asks in this thread, how can we assert our rejection of that normalization of deviance? What can we do?
I intend to write a series of essays on this subject on my Substack, Together For Good. I'm also organizing lawyers to be ready to defend for free those lower-level civil servants that Trump has said he intends to harass and prosecute with FBI investigations, IRS audits, and criminal prosecutions.
You should learn about the norms we have and why they are important. Then organize locally to speak out against the erosion of norms (for example, by nominating wholly unqualified people to head government agencies). Write letters to the editor of your local newspaper. Organize a discussion group in your church, synagogue, mosque, or service club. Get involved in the Democratic Party to help stiffen the spines of potential appeasers. Don't concede. Keep Hope Alive!
Not by coincidence, I'm reading "Unheard Witness" by Ernst Hanfstaengl, associate of Hitler from 1920-1936. Every few pages I find myself stopping and rereading a paragraph in astonishment. America is not 1920-1945 Germany, and Trump is not Hitler (Hitler was much smarter, for one, and not in cognitive decline). Rhymes, not duplicates. But the similarities in the Nazi path, the interplay of personalities, power and social trends with what we are at the start of are notable.
Thanks for bringing this book to our attention, Greg. The parallels to the early years of the Nazi regime are striking. The original is out of print (and expensive). There is a newer version for less money with the title, The Unknown Hitler : Notes from the Young Nazi Party.
A thing that scares me (although I live in Europe and am less directly impacted) is that this is the first article I've read since the election that correctly identifies Mr Trump as the President-ELECT rather than prematurely referring to him as simply "the President" as if he were currently in office.
We have a strange custom here of using some titles both when they are in or have previously held that office. So he can still be referred to as President Trump in many cases, but also President-Elect.
I do not consent to any of this nonsense. But I am beyond confused as to what I CAN do to stop it! I feel helpless and cornered! My options are to leave, protest or raise hell! None of which anyone will listen to or cause anything to change. I feel like a tiny mouse, just waiting for an opportunitey to escape! What has happened to my country!!!
Thank you for saying what needs to be said. This is foolish nonsense that a return to normalcy is just around the bend (somewhere, sometime?). Honestly, Biden welcoming Trump to the White House made me sick and that's when I knew for sure that no one is going to save us from the authoritarians walking right in the door, no house key or lock necessary, just a wide open door. I am no longer a Democrat as of that day. I'm without a political home now, 62 years old and a D member and voter since the age of 18. I don't want to die in a theocracy, but I am not of the financial means to leave. To die in a country that has stripped women of rights that we earned and fought for in my lifetime is crushing, crushing, crushing my soul. I can only imagine how black women and the LGBTQ+ communities feel. It will take time to find my feet and figure out my future in the resistance.
Good to have this confirmation that I am not, in fact, insane. This is NOT normal! I don't wanna pretend it is normal. Beyond frustrated by the injustice of this. I would argue that 'elitism' is not reserved for Capitol Hill. There are factions in the Catholic Church, hierarchical standings in race, marital status, income, etc. I don't know whether to scream or try to sleep it off--because unless I remind myself (or you do), I can be lulled to forget that he will erase my transgender daughter-in-law, our farm workers, our POC and my family won't notice a thing. Where the hell is our protest/punk music? (I may go with scream).
Don't agonize. Organize! Do it locally with friends and colleagues. Above all, don't let wobbly politicians get away with giving this autocrat a veneer of respectability.
There is no GOP member who has not benefitted or aided this. There are few Dems that have not capitulated. They have all given a veneer of respectability by allowing each impeachment, criminal investigation, lack of sentencing, racist, misogynistic, hateful comment to go unanswered. He should never have been on any ballot.
For all the soul searching and finger pointing after the election, Thomas has hit on what's really wrong with the Democratic Party - it doesn't even try to fight. Dems are always looking for that elusive bipartisanship, even with autocrats. They are learning the wrong lessons of this election. SMDH
I don't see them as weak so much at this point (certainly not when they were telling Uncommitted voters to hush) as craven, preening future lobbyists and ultimately entirely unconcerned about the lived experience of the very same voters they blast biweekly to "SAVE DEMOCRACY" with contributions via ActBlue. It's really hard for me to decide which I find more abhorrent. I'm going to say the outright bigots eager to shepherd in corporate Christian Nationalism, but it's not at all reassuring how quickly the opposition switched to lecturing us on playing nice and "toning down the rhetoric". Pretty sure we're not the ones that heated it up. Just really fucking grim.
"accommodating the authoritarian regime is a lot easier if you are not immediately threatened by it. Elite America’s perspective on the prospect of a Trumpist regime is influenced by the fact that, consciously or not, they understand that their status won’t necessarily be affected all that much."
Bingo.
They won't have to skip a meal or a spa day under a fascist regime.
Those who will likely suffer the most are the millions of working class voters who are conned by Donald Trump's shtick. We was work now to develop the rescue plan for the day when Trump and his crowd leave office.
Unfortunately, I wish I could say I was surprised but I am not. Let’s face it, the elites, the media, elected officials, even a lot of our fellow Americans don’t care about Democracy. They care about money and capitalism. When it comes to elected officials, they are also remarkably out of touch; it tends to happen very quickly sadly once they are elected. They live in a different reality than the rest of us.
Womderful essay. “Treacherous Normalcy”. It seems like all those with any power to stand up,for,the rule of law and democracy is acting as if they have battered wife syndrome. I don’t understand their fear of doing the right thing. I agree we do deserve better. Most 6 year olds could explain why it is important for us all to follow the same rules.
I think it is entirely possible that the 'elites' have thrown in the towel, admitted they are whipped, and are looking for ways out of the game. I do not get a sense that there is anything much but surrender on the horizon. The South Has Risen Again, and the democratic leadership of the last 50 years just let it happen with little more than [shrug].
Hey, Bern. We can do something about this. We can call the Democratic Leadership out, as Thomas has done with this essay. African Americans lived through 100 years of fascism in the South. They overcame.
I'm not really a hope-centric person, so there's that. Not pessimistic either – somewhere else, it seems.
The things that touch me are the sorts of humanitarian enterprises that individuals, small groups, crowds and whole populations manage to pull off from time to time, and how other, similar-appearing movements amount to zero. I'm gonna go away and think about this awhile...
I am not only disappointed but very angry at elites who have decided for the millions who have no choice but to live as best we can while potentially being stripped of retirements, benefits, health care, etc. They have no right to legitimize the con man who will destroy as much of the Constitution as he possibly can before he dies or is run out of office because he won’t willingly go.
Thank you again Thomas for your words of wisdom & warning.
We need and deserve a better standard of leadership to confront the authoritarian threat. Polls continue to inform us that the majority of American voters want parties to work together and to maintain the values and ideals of our country.
Defending democracy is boring to too many--while I am a former elected official, friends tell me that I should forget about invites to holiday parties if I talk too much politics. I do understand.
But without local engagement, we may end up relying heavily on prominent individuals and institutions who remain unwilling or unable to model anything beyond compliance with the abnormal. This is abnormal --embrace of authoritarianism, misinformation, and rejection of democratic norms deviates from traditional core values of accountability, truth, and constitutional governance essential to a healthy democracy.
My struggle is trying to find a path. I have a conflict resolution background which emphasizes keeping connections, not humiliating folks, criticizing behaviors not people. How can I accomplish those goals--which I firmly agree with--when the Republicans have demonstrated that are operating in bad faith. They are motivated by power and have been ruthless in that aim.
M
I saw the sunrise of a black sun in 1980. That was when Ronald Regan became the POTUS. His dementia was the dark sunrise of this modern age. Do I blame him alone? Certainly not. His cohorts darkened the world with all the glamour of patriotism, flag waving, and emotional fireworks.
What Trump saw in his first bid for POTUS, was the underbelly of flag waving patriotism. He saw the hate, discontent, and pure rage of people who believed they were being marginalized in the name of democracy. Liberalism, to those people, was, and is corrosive to their own view of what America is supposed to be. Capitalizing on that, Trump saw his path to the White House paved with discontent, and a malevolence towards anything Liberal, or Democratic.
The easy conversion from anti-MAGA, to "Lets all just get along and be happy neighbors," is based on fear. The shark that is about to eat you can not be placated with your cooperation to be eaten. You can not appease a hungry (power hungry) predator by putting yourself on his dinner plate. You will simply be eaten, then disposed of.
Among all the threats the Trump Presidency and the MAGA Movement pose to democracy, freedom, and the rule of law, perhaps the most important--because potentially the most long lasting--is the normalization of deviance. The phrase "normalization of deviance" was made famous by Dianne Vaughan in her book on the Challenger Disaster. It refers to a process of accepting exceptions to the established norms or rules so frequently that the exception becomes the rule. (In the case of the Challenger, a contractor waived its standard of performance on the O rings so often that it became accepted practice to launch shuttles even though the O ring problem had not been solved--with disastrous results.)
Thomas has raised an extremely important question of the moment: Will we accept the breaches of established norms of democracy that the Trump Presidency will entail? If not, as Gale asks in this thread, how can we assert our rejection of that normalization of deviance? What can we do?
I intend to write a series of essays on this subject on my Substack, Together For Good. I'm also organizing lawyers to be ready to defend for free those lower-level civil servants that Trump has said he intends to harass and prosecute with FBI investigations, IRS audits, and criminal prosecutions.
You should learn about the norms we have and why they are important. Then organize locally to speak out against the erosion of norms (for example, by nominating wholly unqualified people to head government agencies). Write letters to the editor of your local newspaper. Organize a discussion group in your church, synagogue, mosque, or service club. Get involved in the Democratic Party to help stiffen the spines of potential appeasers. Don't concede. Keep Hope Alive!
Not by coincidence, I'm reading "Unheard Witness" by Ernst Hanfstaengl, associate of Hitler from 1920-1936. Every few pages I find myself stopping and rereading a paragraph in astonishment. America is not 1920-1945 Germany, and Trump is not Hitler (Hitler was much smarter, for one, and not in cognitive decline). Rhymes, not duplicates. But the similarities in the Nazi path, the interplay of personalities, power and social trends with what we are at the start of are notable.
Thanks for bringing this book to our attention, Greg. The parallels to the early years of the Nazi regime are striking. The original is out of print (and expensive). There is a newer version for less money with the title, The Unknown Hitler : Notes from the Young Nazi Party.
A thing that scares me (although I live in Europe and am less directly impacted) is that this is the first article I've read since the election that correctly identifies Mr Trump as the President-ELECT rather than prematurely referring to him as simply "the President" as if he were currently in office.
We have a strange custom here of using some titles both when they are in or have previously held that office. So he can still be referred to as President Trump in many cases, but also President-Elect.
It's like they CAN'T wait, I'm so disgusted with basically everyone in politics or politics adjacent "edutainment".
I do not consent to any of this nonsense. But I am beyond confused as to what I CAN do to stop it! I feel helpless and cornered! My options are to leave, protest or raise hell! None of which anyone will listen to or cause anything to change. I feel like a tiny mouse, just waiting for an opportunitey to escape! What has happened to my country!!!
Thank you for saying what needs to be said. This is foolish nonsense that a return to normalcy is just around the bend (somewhere, sometime?). Honestly, Biden welcoming Trump to the White House made me sick and that's when I knew for sure that no one is going to save us from the authoritarians walking right in the door, no house key or lock necessary, just a wide open door. I am no longer a Democrat as of that day. I'm without a political home now, 62 years old and a D member and voter since the age of 18. I don't want to die in a theocracy, but I am not of the financial means to leave. To die in a country that has stripped women of rights that we earned and fought for in my lifetime is crushing, crushing, crushing my soul. I can only imagine how black women and the LGBTQ+ communities feel. It will take time to find my feet and figure out my future in the resistance.
Good to have this confirmation that I am not, in fact, insane. This is NOT normal! I don't wanna pretend it is normal. Beyond frustrated by the injustice of this. I would argue that 'elitism' is not reserved for Capitol Hill. There are factions in the Catholic Church, hierarchical standings in race, marital status, income, etc. I don't know whether to scream or try to sleep it off--because unless I remind myself (or you do), I can be lulled to forget that he will erase my transgender daughter-in-law, our farm workers, our POC and my family won't notice a thing. Where the hell is our protest/punk music? (I may go with scream).
Don't agonize. Organize! Do it locally with friends and colleagues. Above all, don't let wobbly politicians get away with giving this autocrat a veneer of respectability.
There is no GOP member who has not benefitted or aided this. There are few Dems that have not capitulated. They have all given a veneer of respectability by allowing each impeachment, criminal investigation, lack of sentencing, racist, misogynistic, hateful comment to go unanswered. He should never have been on any ballot.
For all the soul searching and finger pointing after the election, Thomas has hit on what's really wrong with the Democratic Party - it doesn't even try to fight. Dems are always looking for that elusive bipartisanship, even with autocrats. They are learning the wrong lessons of this election. SMDH
Every single time. What they haven’t seemed to grasp is that this is why a lot of voters are turned off by them. They are viewed as weak.
I don't see them as weak so much at this point (certainly not when they were telling Uncommitted voters to hush) as craven, preening future lobbyists and ultimately entirely unconcerned about the lived experience of the very same voters they blast biweekly to "SAVE DEMOCRACY" with contributions via ActBlue. It's really hard for me to decide which I find more abhorrent. I'm going to say the outright bigots eager to shepherd in corporate Christian Nationalism, but it's not at all reassuring how quickly the opposition switched to lecturing us on playing nice and "toning down the rhetoric". Pretty sure we're not the ones that heated it up. Just really fucking grim.
"accommodating the authoritarian regime is a lot easier if you are not immediately threatened by it. Elite America’s perspective on the prospect of a Trumpist regime is influenced by the fact that, consciously or not, they understand that their status won’t necessarily be affected all that much."
Bingo.
They won't have to skip a meal or a spa day under a fascist regime.
Those who will likely suffer the most are the millions of working class voters who are conned by Donald Trump's shtick. We was work now to develop the rescue plan for the day when Trump and his crowd leave office.
Unfortunately, I wish I could say I was surprised but I am not. Let’s face it, the elites, the media, elected officials, even a lot of our fellow Americans don’t care about Democracy. They care about money and capitalism. When it comes to elected officials, they are also remarkably out of touch; it tends to happen very quickly sadly once they are elected. They live in a different reality than the rest of us.
Womderful essay. “Treacherous Normalcy”. It seems like all those with any power to stand up,for,the rule of law and democracy is acting as if they have battered wife syndrome. I don’t understand their fear of doing the right thing. I agree we do deserve better. Most 6 year olds could explain why it is important for us all to follow the same rules.
I think it is entirely possible that the 'elites' have thrown in the towel, admitted they are whipped, and are looking for ways out of the game. I do not get a sense that there is anything much but surrender on the horizon. The South Has Risen Again, and the democratic leadership of the last 50 years just let it happen with little more than [shrug].
So much for "lives, fortunes & sacred honor"...
Hey, Bern. We can do something about this. We can call the Democratic Leadership out, as Thomas has done with this essay. African Americans lived through 100 years of fascism in the South. They overcame.
Don't agonize. Organize!
Keep Hope Alive!
I'm not really a hope-centric person, so there's that. Not pessimistic either – somewhere else, it seems.
The things that touch me are the sorts of humanitarian enterprises that individuals, small groups, crowds and whole populations manage to pull off from time to time, and how other, similar-appearing movements amount to zero. I'm gonna go away and think about this awhile...