Departments

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Donald Trump

  • SOURCE: The Atlantic
    1/16/2021

    QAnon Is Destroying the GOP From Within

    by Ben Sasse

    The Republican Senator from Nebraska, who holds a doctorate in American history, warns that his party cannot continue to "preach the Constitution while winking at QAnon," and suggests ways to repair the frayed social fabric in which conspiracy theories thrive.

  • 1/17/2021

    Were Trump's Pardons Even Legal?

    by James D. Zirin

    Almost all the pundits, constitutional lawyers, and members of the professoriate are laying down their arms, largely conceding that the President has broad powers to pardon anyone in the world, with the possible exception of himself. But are they giving too much away?"

  • SOURCE: The New Republic
    1/14/2021

    The Capitol Riot Revealed the Darkest Nightmares of White Evangelical America

    by Matthew Avery Sutton

    Many observers have speculated that American evangelicals have had a transactional relationship with Donald Trump. But his messages of "American carnage" and warnings of dire consequences if he is defeated mesh perfectly with their end-times outlook and have helped tie evangelicals to the far right coalition. 

  • 1/14/2021

    Donald Trump’s Situational Fascism

    by Gavriel Rosenfeld

    Rather than engage in an unproductive debate about whether Donald Trump is or is not a bona fide fascist, scholars should consider the events of January 6 (and Trump's role in inciting them) as emergent, contingent results of the interplay of factors latent in American liberal democracy.

  • SOURCE: New Statesman
    1/13/2021

    Why Trump Isn't a Fascist

    by Richard J. Evans

    Richard J. Evans argues that "fascism" arose in the specific context of states defeated in World War I and thus embraced military expansionism and a concurrent militarization of domestic life in addition to racial domination. While Trump is dangerous, labeling him a fascist doesn't explain his political movement. 

  • SOURCE: New York Times
    1/13/2021

    Trump Is the Republican Party’s Past and Its Future

    by Lisa McGirr

    It's not a question of whether Trump voters are driven by racism, nativism or conspiracy theories, or by "economic anxiety." Republican economic policies have created inequality and instability that the party can only paper over by encouraging resentment, suspicion and hostility. It won't end with Trump's departure.

  • SOURCE: New York Times
    1/14/2021

    Why Trump Can Be Convicted Even as an Ex-President

    by Steven I. Vladeck

    The historical record of impeachment trials suggests that they treat removal from office and disqualification from future office as separate questions, meaning that the Senate may still vote to disqualify Trump from office even after his term has ended. 

  • 1/13/2021

    The Problem with a Self-Pardon

    by Robert J. Spitzer

    It is likely that the issue of a president's ability to pardon himself will be contested in short order. A constitutional scholar of the presidency explains why such an action cannot be countenanced in a society of law. 

  • 1/13/2021

    Trump's Nero Decree

    by Frank Domurad

    Adolf Hitler coped with the realization of incipient defeat by ordering the destruction of vital infrastructure in Germany as vengeance against a people who had, he believed, failed him. Donald Trump has been taking a similar approach to the nation's infrastructure and the COVID response (except for the border wall). 

  • 1/12/2021

    A New "Trump Precedent" Under the 25th Amendment?

    by Devan Charles Lindey

    If the vice president and cabinet invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Donald Trump from the powers of the presidency, it would set a new precedent in the largely uncharted territory of dealing with Presidential incapacity. 

  • SOURCE: Politico
    1/11/2021

    Yes, It Was a Coup. Here’s Why

    Former Trump National Security Council staffer Fiona Hill says the events of January 6, in the context of Trump's refusal to accept the election results, meet the practical standard of a coup. 

  • SOURCE: The Atlantic
    1/9/2021

    Trump’s Removal Is Taking Too Long

    by Tom Nichols

    Donald Trump has shown no contrition over inciting an insurrection against Congress to preserve his own power and can be presumed willing to do anything, including order the use of nuclear weapons. A single day he retains the powers of the presidency is a day too many, writes Tom Nichols. 

  • SOURCE: The Atlantic
    1/12/2021

    The Respectables

    by Adam Serwer

    The history of racist political violence in the United States means no one should be surprised by the presence of the economically comfortable and professionally accomplished among the Capitol rioters, who believe their right to rule, rather than their subsistence, is threatened. 

  • SOURCE: New York Times
    1/9/2021

    The American Abyss

    by Timothy Snyder

    "The responsibility for Trump’s push to overturn an election must be shared by a very large number of Republican members of Congress."

  • SOURCE: Washington Post
    1/12/2021

    There’s an Alternative to Impeachment Or 25th Amendment for Trump, Historians Say

    by Michael S. Rosenwald

    Eric Foner discusses Section III of the 14th Amendment, which barred those guilty of engaging in or aiding insurrection against the United States from holding elected or civil office in the United States. The section has no provision for removal from office but would prevent Trump's reelection if he were found guilty of insurrection.

  • 1/10/2020

    Will the Republicans Take the Fascist Option?

    by Kevin Matthews

    Before this past week, too many in the GOP seemed too willing to choose the fascist option.  Now they have seen what it looks like and where it leads.  The question Republicans must answer is simple: Will they choose fascism anyway?