Tag: Trump

The Limits of Power: Donald J. Trump

cross-posted from Afflict the Comfortable

by Bob Buzzanco

Mitch McConnell and Democratic Weakness produced Trump’s successes…….

Donald Trump, it seems, still reigns over the GOP and a good portion of the country.  Senators and representatives visit him to kiss his ring, the RNC is inviting him to speak at its upcoming conference, he and his supporters are unrepentant and still claiming victimhood.  He won’t go away.  The Monster, it seems, lives….

But Trump’s continued status is a continuation of his four years as president, built more on rhetoric, bluster, anger, and spectacle than the way he acted….because, in reality, Trump was far more limited in power than his supporters and, more importantly, his opponents ever recognized. If you want to compare him with evil historical figures, Charlie Manson and Jim Jones are much more appropriate than Benito Mussolini and Adolph Hitler. Continue reading “The Limits of Power: Donald J. Trump”

Choosing Democracy with Direct Action Organizer Eileen Flanagan

In our latest episode, we have a lively discussion with Eileen Flanagan (@eileenflanagan) of Choose Democracy about mass organizing efforts to defend democracy from Trump.

Listen here: https://bit.ly/DemocracyGandR

We discuss their efforts to recruit and prepare thousands to hit the streets, taking advantage of “cracks” in ruling class institutions, like Wall Street and the military, and turning anxiety about Trump remaining in power into action.  We also discussed longer term organizing efforts around climate justice and challenging white supremacy. Continue reading “Choosing Democracy with Direct Action Organizer Eileen Flanagan”

Hysteria about Fascism and Coups Hurt the Left

cross-posted from Afflict the Comfortable

by Prof. Robert Buzzanco

Since 1/20/2017 huge numbers of people, liberals and on the Left alike, have been adamant, and often apoplectic, that Trump was guiding the U.S. toward fascism, that he was the new American Hitler, and that his followers were Nazis.  More recently, we’ve been inundated with increasingly-panicked warnings that a coup was imminent because he was unlikely to win the election fairly or he’d refuse to leave office if he lost.

And we’re not just being told that Trump is a fascist. Some people on the Left have gone further and insisted that nobody should even question that perspective, that fact–as they see it. The most extreme, unhinged example of attacking coup skeptics was probably Counterpoint’s feature write Paul Street, who shrieked that “any asshole ‘radical left’ douchebag who goes around posting and publishing denialist bullshit based on the absence of full on parallels with the Third Reich disgraces themselves and pollutes the discourse with ahistorical drivel.” I guess then I’ll cop to being a disgraceful polluter. Continue reading “Hysteria about Fascism and Coups Hurt the Left”

Obama, Trump and the Hollow Resistance w/ Author Paul Street

COVID-19 Rocks the White House! In our latest episode, we get into the news of the past week with journalist and author Paul Street (@Streetwriter17). And then we deep dive into how the vacuous neo-liberal politics of Barack Obama led to the rise of Donald J. Trump.

We discuss all of this with Paul’s new book, “Hollow Resistance: Obama, Trump, and the Politics of Appeasement.”

Paul Street is an independent progressive policy researcher, award-winning journalist, historian, author and speaker based in Iowa City, Iowa, and Chicago, Illinois. He is the author of seven books to date, including Hollow Resistance. He publishes regularly in CounterPunch and TruthDig.