A NEWSLETTER FROM DAVID CORN |
A NEWSLETTER FROM DAVID CORN |
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Trump’s Back on Top. This Is Not Fine. |
By David Corn March 9, 2024 |
Mother Jones illustration; Gripas Yuri/Abaca/Zuma |
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One of the most popular internet memes is the cartoon of a dog wearing a bowler and sitting at a table with a cup of coffee in a room engulfed by flames. “This is fine,” the pooch says. The image from comic artist KC Green became a viral sensation a decade ago, used a gazillion times since to convey the message: “This is not fine.” The Super Tuesday primary contests this week yielded one of the biggest not-fine moments in US history: The confirmation that Donald Trump (absent an act of God) will once again be the presidential nominee of the Republican Party. And far too many Americans are that dog, settled calmly within a conflagration and saying, “This is fine.”
The firehose of outrages in the Trump era has run nonstop for nine years of lies, hatred, sleaze, malfeasance, conspiracism, and demagoguery. The shock is gone. So many of us are exhausted. It might be hard to summon up the necessary indignation or fury at the fact that millions of Americans have voted to restore Trump to power—after he plotted to overturn an election and incited insurrectionist violence to overthrow the government. After he was twice impeached (and, in the second impeachment, found guilty by a bipartisan Senate majority that fell short of the two-thirds needed for conviction). After he was indicted twice for conspiring to mount a coup, and once for allegedly swiping top-secret documents, and once for paying hush money to a porn star to cover up an alleged extramarital affair. After civil trials found him guilty of massive business fraud and liable for sexual assault and defamation.
Of course, this is not fine. But the nation’s No. 1 problem is that millions view it as acceptable, if not desirable. The nation is a huge step closer to placing in the White House an authoritarian wannabe who attempted to annihilate the constitutional order and who has openly indicated that if elected he will move to seize greater power by seeking near total control of the civil service, ordering the Justice Department to launch criminal investigations of his political foes, and using the Insurrection Act of 1792—which hands the president unchecked power to deploy the US military on American streets—against domestic opposition.
Trump’s restoration to the presidency is not preordained. But it does feel as if America is sleepwalking toward autocracy. An entire political party has rolled over for this narcissistic scoundrel. The conservative movement has become his cult. And right-wing media has become cheerleaders for his crusade of grievances, division, resentment, paranoia, and bigotry. All the pro-Trump forces amount to a minority of the nation. Most Democrats and many independents are alarmed by all this. Yet not enough Americans are worried about the peril at hand, and that may allow the authoritarians to slip past the gates.
This is a break-glass moment. Trump’s agenda for his sequel would subvert, if not blow up, democratic institutions and safeguards. His assaults on the republic might not be reversible. Alarm klaxons are not sounding loudly enough.
The New York Times this week offered one possible reason: Many voters have forgotten the tumult of the Trump years. The newspaper put it this way:
More than three years of distance from the daily onslaught has faded, changed—and in some cases, warped—Americans’ memories of events that at the time felt searing. Polling suggests voters’ views on Mr. Trump’s policies and his presidency have improved in the rearview mirror. In interviews, voters often have a hazy recall of one of the most tumultuous periods in modern politics. Social scientists say that’s unsurprising. In an era of hyper-partisanship, there’s little agreed-upon collective memory, even about events that played out in public.
The Times article observed, “The erosion of time appears to be working in Mr. Trump’s favor, as swing voters base their support on their feelings about the present, not the past.”
This is unsettling given the cataclysmic events of the Trump presidency. Besides its denouement with the Capitol Hill riot, there was the hellish pandemic in which Trump’s mismanagement led to the avoidable deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans. This alone should be a disqualifier for Trump. But even that disaster gets lost in Trump’s foul wash. The Times listed some of the more odious Trump episodes that now seem forgotten:
The recording of Mr. Trump saying he could grab women by the genitals. Praising Russian intelligence. Crudely disparaging African countries. Separating children from their parents at the Mexican border. Telling children Santa Claus isn’t real. Considering buying Greenland. Suggesting using nuclear weapons to stop a hurricane. Threatening to withhold aid from Ukraine if its president wouldn’t investigate the Biden family. Suggesting Covid patients inject bleach.
It also referenced Trump’s absurd love affair with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, the government shutdown Trump caused, his broken promise to have Mexico pay for the border wall, his description of participants at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, as “very fine people,” and the January 6 riot.
Not surprisingly, this roll call left out much. Remember “shithole countries” and the greenlight Trump gave to Chinese President Xi Jinping for imprisoning Uyghurs in concentration camps? Also not on the list was the original sin of his presidency: Trump aiding and abetting the covert Russian operation that helped elect him president and his subsequent attempt to cover all that up with false claims it was a hoax. The Times won a Pulitzer for its coverage of this story, and it was missing.
During his rather-fine State of the Union address, President Joe Biden slammed Trump for his worst moments—January 6, “bowing” down to Vladimir Putin, bragging about killing Roe v. Wade—and depicted him as a danger to democracy. But even in a speech over an hour, Biden could only cover so much. (You can read my report on Biden’s State of the Union here.)
As I read the Times story, I wondered to what degree the paper of record and other media institutions bear some responsibility for all the forgetting. While the Times and other major outlets have often provided insightful coverage of Trump’s misdeeds, his authoritarian impulses and plans, and the threat he poses, they still often report on him as a conventional politician. I haven’t mounted a statistical analysis, but my hunch is that many of their stories on Trump are horse-race pieces that treat him as a prominent candidate. Such coverage tends to normalize this abnormal politician.
Perhaps this is being too harsh on the NYT. But there have been many outrageous actions from Trump that have not been highlighted in its pages. As I noted in December 2022:
The day after Donald Trump, a former president and the leading contender for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, called for the “termination” of provisions of the US Constitution governing elections and essentially demanded that he be declared the “rightful winner” of the 2020 election, neither the New York Times nor the Washington Post ran a front-page story reporting Trump’s call for ripping up portions of the nation’s founding document. No mention of this even appeared in the Times that day. Trump’s unprecedented and dangerous statement was not deemed a big deal. This raised a question: Have major media players still not figured out how to cover Trump’s extremism?
The media is not the only cause of Trump amnesia. Human nature may be such that many of us are just not able to endlessly remain in a state of outrage and anger. Time can smooth out memories and, in some cases, even trauma. But those who do pay attention, and this includes journalists, are obliged to maintain the focus on the big story: A threat to the republic is upon us, and it will come to pass unless enough Americans decide this is not fine.
Got anything to say about this item—or anything else? Email me at ourland@motherjones.com. |
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Dumbass Comment of the Week |
Remember Megyn Kelly? She was a hit at Fox News—reminding people that Santa Claus is white!—and then she tried to go mainstream as a host at NBC. That gig lasted a little more than a year. She took the obvious next step: She started a podcast that eventually found a home on SiriusXM. And she was back to playing to the right wing. Days ago, she had as a guest Vivek Ramaswamy, the failed GOP presidential candidate. In a tweet for the show, Kelly hailed him for “holding the media accountable.” And during the show, she praised him: “Your battles with the press as you were running for president were among the best we’ve seen…You went into the lion’s den repeatedly. And you were good at it…You took them on and stood your ground…With the media, you know how gross they are and battled them.”
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She made Ramaswamy sound like a champion fighter for the truth. But throughout his flop of a campaign, Ramaswamy was an inveterate prevaricator, often called out by fact-checkers for assorted whoppers. He also pushed crazy conspiracy theories about January 6 and other topics. Only a fellow disinformationist would treat Ramaswamy as a credible source and hero.
Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) was back among the nominees. This week, the possible Trump veep pick tweeted, “I have a long memory. If you’re fighting Trump and his endorsed candidates politically today, don’t ask for my help in a year with your legislation or your pet projects.”
Yet, as CNN’s Andrew Kaczynski pointed out, in 2016, Vance proclaimed that he would vote for independent Evan McMullin instead of Trump. And a Community Note appended to Vance’s post threatening revenge pointed out, “Vance has publicly called Trump an ‘idiot,’ ‘reprehensible’ and ‘noxious.’ In Facebook messages, Vance wrote ‘I go back and forth between thinking Trump is a cynical asshole like Nixon who wouldn’t be that bad…or that he’s America’s Hitler.’” |
Apparently, Vance’s memory is not long enough to cover his own past opposition to Trump. An attendee at a recent Trump rally explained her support for the twice-impeached, four-times-indicted inciter of the January 6 riot: “He’s a man with morals.”
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Let’s ask E. Jean Carroll or Stormy Daniels about that.
These were the competitive contenders this week, but the judges decided to hand out the first DCotW lifetime achievement award to Mark Robinson, the Republican lieutenant governor of North Carolina, who on Tuesday won the GOP primary for governor. He has made so many stupid remarks that he should be in the Dumbass Comment Hall of Fame. In 2018, he joined the ranks of Holocaust deniers with this piece of idiocy: “Hitler disarming MILLIONS of Jews and then marching them off to concentration camps is a bunch of hogwash.”
There’s much more. Jennifer Bendery of HuffPost provided a good roundup last summer:
Robinson…has said he “wouldn’t be surprised” if the 1969 moon landing was fake and the 9/11 terrorist attacks were an “inside job.” He’s “SERIOUSLY skeptical” of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination and of the 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas. He falsely accused David Hogg, a survivor of the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, of being a paid actor. He’s claimed that climate change is based on “junk science.”
And those are just the dangerous theories he’s echoed that have been previously reported. In lesser-noticed social media posts, Robinson has said that news coverage of police shootings is part of a media conspiracy “designed to push US towards their new world order.” He and his wife both liked a since-deleted Facebook comment that stated, “WWG1WGA are my ‘Identity’ letters,” a reference to the QAnon rallying cry “Where we go one, we go all.” In October 2018, on a day when authorities intercepted pipe bombs intended for President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and CNN, Robinson suggested on Facebook that they had done it to themselves. “If you can’t beat ’em, bomb yourself,” he wrote…Robinson is also a regular proponent of conspiracies claiming the music industry is being run by Satan and the Illuminati. He has called Beyoncé’s music “satanic” and described Jay-Z as “demonic” and sent by Satan to turn people away from Jesus. He suggested that the 2014 Boko Haram kidnapping of schoolgirls in Nigeria was orchestrated by billionaire Democratic philanthropist George Soros, a frequent target of antisemitic attacks by Republicans.
Robinson, who has made antisemitic remarks, is more of a conspiracy nut than Ramaswamy. The judges are looking forward to (or dreading) seeing him repeatedly in contention in the months to come. Meanwhile, Robinson will face Democrat Josh Stein in the North Carolina governor’s race, and, believe it or not, the contest is expected to be close.
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There were many strong responses to my interview with Thomas Schaller and Paul Waldman about their bestselling book, White Rural Rage.
Charlotte Dunham, a regular correspondent who lives in Lubbock, Texas, emailed:
I am passing this on to my Democratic friends. They think that they lose because their voters don’t turn out to vote. All we have to do is turn out our voters and we will win elections. But turning them out is a lot more complicated than knocking on doors. Beto O’Rourke tried that strategy when he ran against Ted Cruz in Texas for Senate, but in the end it wasn’t quite enough. I am hoping this book might help to produce a roadmap to change gears. A Senate candidate came through town a few weeks ago, and he said that he sat down with a group of cotton farmers in a small town south of here. He said that they understood the economic and climate arguments but they “still couldn’t get around the culture issues.” I think that illustrates your point. Like one of those authors said, it’s like we live in separate tribes and we have to decide that tribe is America, not us versus them. As this book points out, not an easy task. Thanks for this. It is very relevant to my world.
Victoria Olson wrote:
Excellent drill-down into the problems out here in the sticks with the true-believers-cult-of-grievance. Here in the countryside of rural Maine, it's likely we'll see fresh new Trump 2024 signs on the most falling-down poverty-stricken homes. The latest slogan is "Take America Back." I wonder, to where? To when? The 19th century? The Jim Crow south? As I write, it's Super Tuesday, and my partner is at our local polling site, collecting signatures for a petition for our town to support carbon pricing, a climate change mitigation measure. The first person to refuse to sign was our very own state representative. A few more climate-hoaxers also gave their conspiracy-laden views. The Democratic Party is like the single mom with three jobs, supporting the family, while the Republicans are the deadbeat dad, blowing the kids' college fund on hookers and blow.
Rich Fairbanks sent in this report:
Maybe it's the exception that proves the rule. But much of the western Oregon and western Washington rural communities have demographics like the Applegate Valley, where I live. We have Republican county commissioners and Republican congressmen, and we are mostly white. We are rural, too. For example, I live 11 miles from Jacksonville, 1.1 miles off the pavement, and yes, I have a gun and three—count 'em three—chain saws. So you would think we are all Repubs out here. No. Most of my neighbors have at least two years of college. The education factor seems to be the difference between us and other rural populations. The folks I deal with are white, rural, and educated. Because of that, increasingly, elections are close, and Democrats are taking power in some rural elections. The Republicans still run many of these rural districts, but their grip is weakening.
LA Jack observed:
The nearly all-white racial make-up of rural areas was mentioned, but not the fact that many rural dwellers come from multi-generational farmers and disproportionately share the same national origin. In my area for example, there are regions that are predominantly proud descendants of Germans, Russians, and Norwegians. This further binds these groups together and excludes others. Also, there is a constant feedback loop, reinforcing and justifying their views. The few who dissent remain silent or are ostracized.
Jill Leroux shared this:
I live in the southeast of Missouri, not too far from St. Louis but most definitely rural. I can almost have a panic attack when I think about the “mindset” in my small dot on the map and neighboring townlets. I’m a disabled old hippie that can’t help the cause much, and sometimes I’m afraid to identify myself as a progressive, let alone a Democrat. But I would spread your column’s interview far and wide on the Facebook and in messaging my family and friends. If that’s allowable? Or is that not something you would want.
Jill, of course, I’d like to see Our Land spread across the land, to every township, village, and hamlet, as well as every metropolis—and everywhere in between. Readers occasionally ask why there is no easy way to post the newsletter on Facebook, Twitter, or other social media sites. The reason is simple: Our business plan depends on people subscribing to the premium version. But all readers should feel free to forward Our Land emails to friends, colleagues, relatives, neighbors, and foes. Or cut and paste or screenshot for posting on Facebook and elsewhere. If you do any of that, please encourage recipients to sign up for their own subscriptions at www.davidcorn.com.
Readers also seemed to enjoy the interview with Barbara McQuade and our discussion of her new book about disinformation, Attack from Within. Carol Clare Chowdhry wrote:
I always feel better about American democracy after reading your column, not because the way forward is going to be any easier, but because saving it seems possible. Thank you for what you're doing. In relation to this issue, I thought of its relation to Eric Hoffer's The True Believer, which might make a useful part of this discussion. Quite the compliment, Carol. Thanks. Alison Rose commented on my farewell to comedian Richard Lewis:
I'm so sorry for the loss of your friend, and for the world's loss of a hilarious and brilliant man. Richard was one of my favorite comedians growing up, in part because he seemed to be the most genuine one I'd seen. Even though he was on a stage, you could tell immediately none of it was an act or a bit. It was just him. And I felt a kinship, despite the difference in age and gender —a chronically depressed and anxious Jew who'd had it up to here with just about everything but managed to mine that neurosis and aggravation for side-splitting humor? Twins. May his memory be for a blessing.
It truly is—as are the old episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm in which Richard appears. Jonni Gray had a question: Which will come first, the Rapture or the sneaker delivery? I think the answer is clear. Only people wearing those Trump sneakers will be lifted skyward on Judgment Day. Talk about a vertical leap! |
“What time is it?” “About 5:00, Moxie.” “No, is it play-with-the-ball time or not-play-with-the-ball time?” “That’s rather binary.” “I like to keep life simple.” |
Read Recent Issues of Our Land |
March 5, 2024: The threat to democracy from white rural rage; the common flaw of Maestro and Napoleon; Tierney Sutton’s jazzy take on the racial wealth gap; and more.
March 2, 2024: Barbara McQuade on disinformation in 2024; Richard Lewis, RIP; Dumbass Comment of the Week (Sen. Tommy Tuberville); the Mailbag; MoxieCam; and more.
February 27, 2024: The new “It Can Happen Here” project; the darkness of True Detective: Night Country; and more.
February 24, 2024: The racism is the point; the Smirnov affair; Dumbass Comment of the Week (Robert F. Kennedy Jr.); the Mailbag; MoxieCam™; and more.
February 21, 2024: The great forgotten betrayal of the Trump years; the fifth season of Fargo gets political; the Black Keys get funky; and more.
February 17, 2024: A refresher on Trump’s porn-star/hush-money case; a farewell message from Alexei Navalny; Dumbass Comment of the Week (Jared Kushner); the Mailbag; MoxieCam™; and more.
February 13, 2024: Joe Biden’s age and how the media covers it; The Greatest Night in Pop lives up to its title; Slow Horses and For All Mankind and the challenge of producing high-quality television; and more.
February 10, 2024: Biden or Trump and the memory hole; Dumbass Comment of the Week (Marjorie Taylor Greene); the Mailbag; MoxieCam™; and more.
February 6, 2024: Joy Reid and a civil rights love story; a new biography of Lou Reed; and more.
February 3, 2024: A too-late Biden shift on Israel?; writing about Taylor Swift; a classic Trump video on lying; Dumbass Comment of the Week (Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar); MoxieCam™; and more. |
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Got suggestions, comments, complaints, tips related to any of the above, or anything else? Email me at ourland@motherjones.com. |
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