Some major personal news:   Things have really changed. Now I need your help.   On why I left academia, why I left America, and why I need your support as I am starting over as a full-time writer:   Onward. Forward. Steady:   https://t.co/W67O1enotG

I wrote about why binary categories of Trump “winning vs losing” or being “weak vs strong” are not very helpful right now. They tend to reproduce mood swings more than they help generate plausible analysis.   An attempt to take stock of where we are: https://t.co/0JEbX3yiUi

Is Trump Winning? Is He Losing?   Kimmel uncanceled, Comey indicted, a terrifying “domestic terrorism” directive, and troops to Portland: Where does America stand in the struggle against encroaching authoritarianism?   Some thoughts from my new piece:   https://t.co/0JEbX3xL4K

As always, I am providing audio versions of all the pieces I publish on Democracy Americana to make them more accessible (read by me, not some ghastly AI).   And for paid members, there is a new feature: You can download the voiceovers in podcast form wherever you get your pods:

We must recognize how precarious this moment is. But we must not perpetuate the Trumpists’ assertions of strength and dominance. For now, the gap between their authoritarian aspirations and the reality of U.S. society remains significant. That’s where the counter can yet happen.

Whats your thoughts on the new Taylor Swift album? Yes, I listened. I feel like it left a lot to be desired. 😳

It doesn’t mean they will ultimately succeed. But they are trying. And, frankly, if it were all happening elsewhere, away from exceptionalist assumptions that “It cannot happen here,” we would have no trouble recognizing how disastrously far they have already come.

Nothing is determined. But some things are certain. There should never have been any doubt about the Trumpists’ intentions. They are entirely sincere about their assertions of absolute power, their desire to transform America into some form of plebiscitary autocracy.

Let’s not fixate on isolated moments, but develop a holistic understanding. A phase of escalation might be followed by a period of relative easement. It would be as foolish to declare victory during the latter as it is defeatist to announce democracy’s downfall during the former.

We long for certainty. That’s why we look for clear lines of demarcation and identifiable points of no return. But the lines will inevitably get pushed further out, the next turning point is always right around the corner. Let’s think in directionality rather than fixed lines.

But that was before the wave of authoritarian escalations to end the week. Now what? I don’t think binary categories of “winning/losing” or “weak/strong” are very helpful right now. They tend to reproduce mood swings more than they help generate plausible analysis.

In terms of public perception, the pendulum swung wildly over a short span of time. When Kimmel was canceled, it seemed the comprehensive crackdown on free speech was coming – Trump was winning! Then Kimmel returned, what a defeat, Trump was losing!

The broadly hostile reaction from the American public certainly served as a crucial reminder that the Trumpists do not represent a broad societal consensus - no matter how many times they claim a “mandate” and angrily insist they represent “the people.”

There was even a measure of critique from within the GOP, which points to an interesting fault line: Between those who believe public opinion still matters politically – and those like Stephen Miller who believe a fully authoritarian order will make such concerns obsolete soon.

A key reason why the public reacted so strongly to the cancellation is that the Trumpists went about this in the most ham-fisted way: A spectacle that was so easily recognizable as state repression; an assault that looked so much like “dictator stuff” to even casual observers.

However, it did not work. ABC/Disney did not rally to defend democracy (let’s not kid ourselves); they reacted to consumer pressure. That, at least, is a sign that they haven’t fully bought into Trump’s personalist rule. Public pressure still works.

It was also a demonstration of how an authoritarian transformation tends to work in the twenty-first century. Kimmel’s cancellation sits right at that intersection of open state repression – and pre-emptive self-censorship and complicity by businesses and civil society actors.

Let’s start with the Kimmel affair. Regardless of its outcome, it pointed to a key difference between the first Trump administration and his second presidency: The Trumpists are now attempting to systemically use the levers of state power to suppress protest and public dissent.

Last week started with ABC/Disney backtracking and bringing Jimmy Kimmel back; it ended with a flurry of authoritarian escalations. I am trying to take stock: What does this all amount to? After all this, where do we stand in the struggle over the fate of American democracy?

Is Trump Winning? Is He Losing?   Kimmel uncanceled, Comey indicted, a terrifying “domestic terrorism” directive, and troops to Portland: Where does America stand in the struggle against encroaching authoritarianism?   Some thoughts from my new piece:   https://t.co/0JEbX3xL4K

I wrote about why binary categories of Trump “winning vs losing” or being “weak vs strong” are not very helpful right now. They tend to reproduce mood swings more than they help generate plausible analysis.   An attempt to take stock of where we are: https://t.co/0JEbX3yiUi

In an attempt to take stock of where we are, I wrote about how binary categories of “winning/losing” or “weak/strong” are just not very helpful right now. They tend to reproduce mood swings more than they help generate plausible analysis.