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See below for two excellent Twitter threads, as we wind down this weird week, by two really smart people – Washington Monthly contributor/DNC member David Atkins and Georgetown University historian Thomas Zimmer. Atkins’ thread argues, persuasively IMHO, that:
“The biggest mistake moderate Democrats are making is that they are governing to preserve institutional credibility while hoping that Trumpism will blow over, rather than preparing with grim fortitude for a society-wide confrontation with a fascist movement playing for keeps.”
And Zimmer’s thread argues, convincingly:
“The mainstream media is not coming to the rescue of American democracy. The struggle against both Trump the person and Trumpism the political formation will have to be won in spite of a media environment that provides fertile ground for this kind of rightwing extremism.”
Exactly. Also, I’d add, Democratic politicians, activists, etc. need to stop thinking about any of this as something we’re going to just deal with and be able to move on with our lives. To the contrary, this battle with authoritarian, reactionary, racist, evil and otherwise twisted forces has been going on for most of human history and, we must assume, will continue for the rest of our lifetimes…and for many generations to come, assuming humanity survives that long. So, NO, it’s not sufficient to just win a specific election, we’ve got to win the long-run battle for the “soul of America,” as President Joe Biden so succinctly and correctly puts it.
