Across time and regions, people respond to totalitarian threats in similar ways. Some people cooperate. Others resist. Still others seek to bow to authoritarians and avoid making existential choices.
As Anne Applebaum eloquently put it in her 2020 essay on collaborators in the Atlantic:
To American readers, references to Vichy France, East Germany, fascists, and communists may seem excessive and even comical. But if you dig a little deeper, this analogy makes sense. The point is not to compare Trump to Hitler or Stalin. What matters is that we compare the experience of high-ranking members of the American Republican Party, especially those most closely aligned with the White House, with the experience of the French in 1940, the East Germans in 1945, or Czesław Miłosz in 1947. It is to compare with. .
Given President Trump’s assault on democracy, we need to identify which Republicans have chosen which categories and what the consequences of those choices will be.
collaboration: Local informers, propagandists, and zealous Nazi party members helped implement repression in occupied Europe during World War II. Collaborators now wear red hats instead of black and red armbands. They parrot racist slogans, incite xenophobia, attack law enforcement, incite violence, condone the brutality of their leaders, spread conspiracies, and cover up Trump’s mental breakdown. are doing. They abandoned America’s quest for a more perfect union.
Trump’s inner circle (Stephen Miller, Mark Meadows, etc.) and mid-ranking bureaucrats whose presence shrouded the administration in a thin veil of normalcy (many of whom joined to get closer to power) chose to cooperate. . Defenders of cable news (some of whom have been certified as liars), MAGA members of Congress (from Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida to former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of California, House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana, Texas) (from Sen. Ted Cruz) and right-wing radio hosts fear losing their positions. The audience also followed this path. Governors like Greg Abbott in Texas, who openly defy court rulings and promote voter suppression efforts, are embracing cooperation. So do state legislators who gleefully gerrymander districts and suppress voting.
Let’s not forget the supposedly level-headed Republicans who argued in 2020 that Trump was the safer choice. Add to that MAGA donors, campaign aides, former officials who have refused to testify against Trump, and a once-reputable think tank that has become a propaganda and policy tool for Trumpism. All of the major Republican presidential candidates who withdrew from the 2024 race, except former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, were allies when they endorsed Trump. Collectively, they not only normalize MAGA extremism but also demonize those who resist Trump. Collaborators include right-wing partisans on the Supreme Court who disenfranchise, destroy the regulatory state, and erode the separation of church and state on behalf of MAGA backers.
resistance: Naturally, Democrats opposed Trump and Trumpism.Republicans didn’t face prison or the death penalty for standing up to Trump. It wasn’t that hard to put up a fight. Nevertheless, Republican resistance remained pathetically small. A few holdouts do stand out: Republicans (and their media) who never supported Trump, Sen. Mitt Romney (Utah), former Republican Sens. Liz Cheney (Wyo.) and Adam Kinn. Mr. Zinger (Illinois).
Because they persistently denounced MAGA’s attacks on democracy and truth, they left their “tribes,” suffered ostracism, and in some cases lost their jobs. Some former Trump aides (e.g., Cassidy Hutchinson), former state legislators (e.g., Russell “Rusty” Bowers of Arizona), and “Team Normal” lawyers (e.g., the January 6, 2021 investigation) (who were willing to speak to the House of Commons Select Committee). I resisted.
Individual motivations may vary. But a common pattern emerges. The resisters refused to put personal ambition above love of country. They entered politics with codes of conduct based on religious beliefs, patriotism, or ancestry. If they had joined Mr. Trump, they would not have been able to sleep at night or explain themselves to their children and grandchildren.
hotel: Dictatorships do not succeed simply by tying down enthusiastic collaborators. Without obscurants and moral relativists willing to distance themselves from the most important moral choices of their time, evil regimes would stall. In this regard, many former Trump advisers have remained silent about his ineligibility. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) voted to forgo impeachment over the riot (thereby encouraging other members to stay in line), and Republicans are trying to avoid criticism of Trump. He often pretends to have missed Trump’s latest tweets.
The Atlantic’s Tom Nichols wrote, “Even when challenged, they only speak long enough to give Trump excuses on an issue they should know for sure is not complicated by any means.” It’s morally ambiguous.” In doing so, they have “created a permission structure for Trump supporters, allowing any reasonable person to ignore Trump’s appalling disregard for the law and even basic decency, yet in the name of the greater good.” and other Republican candidates” (e.g., , Prevent “Socialists” from Ruining America).
The media’s habit of obscuring moral stakes makes it easier for expediency to occur. Media outlets that rely on false equivalencies and value-neutral horse racing coverage prioritize obfuscation (known as “neutrality”) over truth-telling. (Sunday shows continue to book election deniers, and cable hosts do softball interviews with MAGA politicians.) Meanwhile, pollsters and pundits continue to book nonsensical Early voting is distracting the public. (The most shameful thing is when “anti-anti-Trump” conservative figures attack resisters.)
Supported by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee Any When government officials (including election deniers) and business leaders who follow Israel’s lead against Israel claim to like Trump’s policies (or donate to both sides to cover their bets), they commit a betrayal of democracy. It is accepted. The most dangerous form of accommodation: No-label and fringe candidates lure voters away from the only candidate who can beat Trump (President Biden) while falsely denying they are spoilers for Trump.
Conciliators who think they can avoid the harsh judgments of history wonder what the “moderate” white pastors that the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. denounced in “Letter from Birmingham Jail” would rate. You might think about whether there is one. History despises moral cowards who enable evil. President Trump’s appeasers will fare just as well.
This week’s celebrities
Roberta Kaplan, E. Jean Carroll’s attorney, said in a statement following the $83.3 million judgment against Trump: It takes courage and bravery to stand up to bullies. It takes someone like E. Jean Carroll to do that. Thank you to E. Jean and the jury for upholding the rule of law. ” Carroll’s tenacity, courage, and dignity forced Trump to pay for his actions for the first time since he was elected president.
Mr. Kaplan’s brilliant lawyers, the judge who refused to allow President Trump to disrupt the courtroom, and the nine conscientious jurors all played a role. Jurors in two separate trials are now less supportive of Trump. (The first ruling, in ordinary terms, ruled that Trump raped her and lied to her malicious intent about it.)
Many countries have abolished civil jury trials. However, in the United States, ordinary citizens determine the facts and make decisions. And thankfully, nine decent Americans fulfilled their public duty to render a just, fair and conclusive verdict against Trump. They are exemplary citizens.
Photojournalist Dorothea Lang explores everything from the iconic “Immigrant Mother” symbolizing the dispossessed, downtrodden, and destitute refugees from the Dust Bowl to the black figure of the Southern sharecropper in poverty and despair. It depicts an American. The “Dorothea Lange: Seeing People” exhibit at the National Gallery in Washington, D.C., features some of her work from the Great Depression, World War II, and beyond. Masu. In particular, her Depression-era photographs of weather-beaten, mud-covered figures in tattered clothing have lost none of their power to highlight the toll of rural poverty.
Her artistry raises the following questions: How did humans survive such conditions?what happened to the americans To give permission Can people live in such conditions? YYou come away convinced that without the New Deal, desperate Americans might have fallen under the spell of 20th century tyrants. This bright and unforgettable exhibit is worth your attention.
every other On Wednesdays at noon, we’ll be hosting a live Q&A with our readers. Read the transcript of this week’s Q&A or submit your question for his Q&A below. Questions received after February 7th will be sent to my new Wednesday newsletter.
tim wood: What is former President Donald Trump thinking? Or is he thinking? President Trump wants absolute immunity from any crimes he may have committed as president. Didn’t he consider that if he was successful, President Biden would also be completely immune from any crimes he might commit? Also, by trying to block the border bill, isn’t Trump giving Biden the right to say he supports immigration reform and Trump opposes it? Finally, is it arrogance, stupidity, or Is it both?
jennifer rubin: He is a malignant narcissist. Such people lack empathy, self-awareness, self-control and a sense of right and wrong. It’s all about feeding their ego, controlling others, and gaining power. This is a personality profile that has been found in authoritarian figures throughout the world over time.