"Within the column, Ezra has laid out a somewhat facile description of fascism, without discussion of how we got here or how to fight it. Having not done that work, Ezra is left, "hop[ing] somebody has better ideas than I do," which is precisely the same kind of fecklessness of which he accuses Dems. That fecklessness stems in significant part from Ezra's inattention, in his description of Trump's fascism, to Trump's usurpation of Congress' power of the purse,"
"The rest of this section describing fascism is muddled, down to repeatedly changing topics within paragraphs (which may be the fault of editors). Three paragraphs focus on Trump's efforts to fire experts who provide Trump bad news and the ways he is using government to punish his enemies. One paragraph describes his bribery in plain sight. Half a paragraph describes ICE and Guard invasions without mentioning the racist animus of both. One paragraph describes the gold lamé vandalism Trump has done to the Oval Office."
Comparisons are drawn between the upcoming funding fight and the March funding fight. Trump is portrayed as consolidating authoritarian power. The shutdown is framed as "attentional." Democrats are depicted as powerless. Fascism receives a facile, mafia-state-like portrayal that emphasizes preservation and expansion of power and wealth. Calls for others to supply better ideas convey fecklessness. Attention to Trump's usurpation of Congress' power of the purse is insufficient given its centrality to the funding fight. Concrete examples cited include firing experts, using government to punish enemies, public bribery, ICE and Guard invasions without noting racist animus, and Oval Office vandalism in gold lamé.
Read at emptywheel
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]