There is a new blog entry entitled, “4:00 a.m. thoughts: The paradox of veganism.”
Illiberalism
Gilead
Donald Trump
Fig. 1. Donald Trump, depicted in an orange jumpsuit, reportedly by the Drudge, date unknown, via Mediaite,[1] fair use. Apparently, no mugshot was taken when he was actually arrested over hush money paid to Stormy Daniels.[2]
I’m quoting snippets here, which is an injustice. You really need to read the article (gift link, not by me, and I don’t know how long it will work).
[Donald] Trump is among the world’s most obvious political creatures, but the sheer constancy of his public communications, their assaultiveness and density, has sometimes made it hard to see clearly their evolutions, to trace changes in the signal through the formidable noise. His demands on the world’s attention make it paradoxically easy not to pay attention to the particulars. Most Americans, in any case, made up their minds about him one way or another long ago. This has made Trump appear more static than he actually is — made it harder to see how the Trump presidency, which profoundly changed America, also changed Trump. . . .
Like the fascists, [Juan] Perón redefined “the people” as an exclusive, not inclusive, category: an us defined against a them. Where he differed, crucially, was in claiming the mantle of democracy — and presenting himself as its perfection. In populism, the leader had arrived to beat back a threat to the will of the people that came from within the country’s democratic system — and that, absent the leader’s vigilant rule, would return to cause worse destruction. Perón’s enemies were not just Perón’s enemies; they were the enemies of democracy.[3]
Charles Homans compares Juan Perón to Donald Trump, a comparison he says holds through Trump’s 2017 inaugural speech. Homans observes that Trump’s rhetoric is now principally about “them,” those who he believes have done him wrong and to whom he promises retribution.[4] It’s grievance[5] on steroids—and terrifyingly so.
Charles Homans, “Donald Trump Has Never Sounded Like This,” New York Times, April 27, 2024, https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/27/magazine/trump-rallies-rhetoric.html
Coup attempt
Fig. 1. Cartoon by Ben Jennings, January 24, 2024, via the Guardian,[6] fair use.
Charles Homans, “Donald Trump Has Never Sounded Like This,” New York Times, April 27, 2024, https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/27/magazine/trump-rallies-rhetoric.html
- [1]Alex Griffing, “Drudge Puts Trump in an Orange Jumpsuit as Site Monitors His Potential Indictment,” Mediaite, August 29, 2022, https://www.mediaite.com/news/drudge-puts-trump-in-an-orange-jumpsuit-as-site-monitors-his-potential-indictment/↩
- [2]Sarah D. Wire and Alexandra E. Petri, “Trump charged with 34 felony counts in alleged hush money cover-up case,” Los Angeles Times, April 4, 2023, https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2023-04-04/donald-trump-alleged-hush-money-investigation-indictment-arraignment↩
- [3]Charles Homans, “Donald Trump Has Never Sounded Like This,” New York Times, April 27, 2024, https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/27/magazine/trump-rallies-rhetoric.html↩
- [4]Charles Homans, “Donald Trump Has Never Sounded Like This,” New York Times, April 27, 2024, https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/27/magazine/trump-rallies-rhetoric.html↩
- [5]James Kimmel, Jr., “What the Science of Addiction Tells Us About Trump,” Politico, December 12, 2020, https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/12/12/trump-grievance-addiction-444570↩
- [6]Ben Jennings, “Ben Jennings on Donald Trump’s progress along the Republican nomination trail – cartoon,” Guardian, January 24, 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/picture/2024/jan/24/ben-jennings-on-donald-trumps-progress-along-the-republican-nomination-trail-cartoon↩