Reach out to as many House reps as you can about the Epstein files. This is bigger than a “I only represent my constituents” issue.
Use/share this spreadsheet (bit.ly/Goodtrouble) as a resource to call/email/write members of Congress, the Cabinet and news organizations. Reach out to those in your own state, and those in a committee that fits your topic. Call. Write. Email. Protest. Unrelentingly. We deserve better ❤️🩹🤍💙
A man with only the most rudimentary sense of humor like Trump doesn't really joke. Not in the way most people joke - which is looking for the juxtaposition between reality and exaggeration. So that, if Barack Obama joked that he would call out the National Guard if his coffee was cold, it would be accepted he intended it as a joke. (Whether it would be funny is a different question). The actual humor in this would be that everyone knew and accepted that Obama would never speciously call out the National Guard. Plus, there is the ridiculousness of making such a big deal out of such a small matter.
Trump's so-called jokes on the other hand are completely congruent with his beliefs and behavior. It is totally plausible that he would follow through on the things he jokes about. What's more, he has followed through on things he had initially claimed were jokes. What his jokes are in fact are deadly serious trial balloons floated to get the public used to his seizure of unlimited power.
He is deliberately planting seeds in the public mind. It is almost subliminal. Unless the press stops reporting these "jokes" as if they were legitimate things for a president to do, he is going to get away with it.
Interesting piece, thanks for writing it. But here’s where I struggle with the framing.
What I see isn’t just Trump “joking his way into autocracy,” but rather both political camps leaning into their own versions of authoritarianism. On the left, we see purity tests, speech policing, de-platforming, and a near obsession with “don’t normalize him.” On the right, we see law-and-order rhetoric and cultural trench warfare. Both sides claim to be saving the country, but each is comfortable using coercive tools when it suits them.
The irony is that Trump—painted as a looming dictator—actually tends to pull back when courts block him. He’s blustery, sure, but when federal judges say no, he complies. That looks a lot more like a constitutional originalist than a tyrant trying to smash the system. If his goal were genuine autocracy, he’s had chances to ignore judicial checks, yet hasn’t taken them.
Meanwhile, the left’s version of “soft authoritarianism” often comes wrapped in noble language: mandates “for public safety,” censorship “for the vulnerable,” policies “for the poor.” But history shows that invoking the marginalized doesn’t make the outcomes less damaging. Good intentions can still produce coercive and destructive results.
So while it’s easy to caricature Trump as a Chaplinesque villain—“orange man bad”—that doesn’t mean the other side is less insidious. In fact, America has lived with shades of fascism for a century or more, from the robber barons through post-WWII centralization. Today’s divide looks less like democracy versus dictatorship, and more like left-wing authoritarianism facing off against right-wing authoritarianism.
The real danger, in my view, is missing that bigger picture.
*****Lots of Trump’s most dangerous statements are taken as jokes. Until they’re not.
Amid the chaos, it’s hard to know what could turn out to be real and what to ignore. How much is anyone really supposed to care about a silly hat? Does he really think he is right about everything? He has to be kidding… right? But we aren’t living in a parody of autocracy; our country is really becoming one.
Our plunge into absurdity and autocracy is not incidental. The constant mix of surreal and real makes it hard to discern the danger before our eyes. If, in the confusion, we see Trump as a clown with a bright red hat in place of a big red nose, then his bumbling threats can’t be serious, his abuses can’t be intentional, and his power grabs can’t be real.
[...]
What should be apparent by now is this: Whatever line there may have been between Trump’s absurdity and authoritarianism has collapsed.
They’re the same. He isn’t joking. Stop acting like he is.*****
.
I can only really speak for myself. I imagine, though, that few regular readers of "If you can keep it" have been lulled by the clown act. I imagine that with scant exceptions we have understood, as Charlie Sykes puts it, that this clown with a flamethrower is still incinerating all that is just and true, and good.
The challenge is to get others to see it. It is our duty to meet this challenge, persistently.
We are NOT amused. ☹️☹️☹️
Reach out to as many House reps as you can about the Epstein files. This is bigger than a “I only represent my constituents” issue.
Use/share this spreadsheet (bit.ly/Goodtrouble) as a resource to call/email/write members of Congress, the Cabinet and news organizations. Reach out to those in your own state, and those in a committee that fits your topic. Call. Write. Email. Protest. Unrelentingly. We deserve better ❤️🩹🤍💙
A man with only the most rudimentary sense of humor like Trump doesn't really joke. Not in the way most people joke - which is looking for the juxtaposition between reality and exaggeration. So that, if Barack Obama joked that he would call out the National Guard if his coffee was cold, it would be accepted he intended it as a joke. (Whether it would be funny is a different question). The actual humor in this would be that everyone knew and accepted that Obama would never speciously call out the National Guard. Plus, there is the ridiculousness of making such a big deal out of such a small matter.
Trump's so-called jokes on the other hand are completely congruent with his beliefs and behavior. It is totally plausible that he would follow through on the things he jokes about. What's more, he has followed through on things he had initially claimed were jokes. What his jokes are in fact are deadly serious trial balloons floated to get the public used to his seizure of unlimited power.
He is deliberately planting seeds in the public mind. It is almost subliminal. Unless the press stops reporting these "jokes" as if they were legitimate things for a president to do, he is going to get away with it.
Interesting piece, thanks for writing it. But here’s where I struggle with the framing.
What I see isn’t just Trump “joking his way into autocracy,” but rather both political camps leaning into their own versions of authoritarianism. On the left, we see purity tests, speech policing, de-platforming, and a near obsession with “don’t normalize him.” On the right, we see law-and-order rhetoric and cultural trench warfare. Both sides claim to be saving the country, but each is comfortable using coercive tools when it suits them.
The irony is that Trump—painted as a looming dictator—actually tends to pull back when courts block him. He’s blustery, sure, but when federal judges say no, he complies. That looks a lot more like a constitutional originalist than a tyrant trying to smash the system. If his goal were genuine autocracy, he’s had chances to ignore judicial checks, yet hasn’t taken them.
Meanwhile, the left’s version of “soft authoritarianism” often comes wrapped in noble language: mandates “for public safety,” censorship “for the vulnerable,” policies “for the poor.” But history shows that invoking the marginalized doesn’t make the outcomes less damaging. Good intentions can still produce coercive and destructive results.
So while it’s easy to caricature Trump as a Chaplinesque villain—“orange man bad”—that doesn’t mean the other side is less insidious. In fact, America has lived with shades of fascism for a century or more, from the robber barons through post-WWII centralization. Today’s divide looks less like democracy versus dictatorship, and more like left-wing authoritarianism facing off against right-wing authoritarianism.
The real danger, in my view, is missing that bigger picture.
Amanda Carpenter wrote:
*****Lots of Trump’s most dangerous statements are taken as jokes. Until they’re not.
Amid the chaos, it’s hard to know what could turn out to be real and what to ignore. How much is anyone really supposed to care about a silly hat? Does he really think he is right about everything? He has to be kidding… right? But we aren’t living in a parody of autocracy; our country is really becoming one.
Our plunge into absurdity and autocracy is not incidental. The constant mix of surreal and real makes it hard to discern the danger before our eyes. If, in the confusion, we see Trump as a clown with a bright red hat in place of a big red nose, then his bumbling threats can’t be serious, his abuses can’t be intentional, and his power grabs can’t be real.
[...]
What should be apparent by now is this: Whatever line there may have been between Trump’s absurdity and authoritarianism has collapsed.
They’re the same. He isn’t joking. Stop acting like he is.*****
.
I can only really speak for myself. I imagine, though, that few regular readers of "If you can keep it" have been lulled by the clown act. I imagine that with scant exceptions we have understood, as Charlie Sykes puts it, that this clown with a flamethrower is still incinerating all that is just and true, and good.
The challenge is to get others to see it. It is our duty to meet this challenge, persistently.
FYI I started a site based on JVL's Law to track examples of institutional subversion. I only launched it yesterday and still need to backfill it.
You can see it here: https://jvlslaw.com/
Please DM me with your suggestions, or click my name at the bottom to see contact me.
😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣Don’t worry we WILL keep our REPUBLIC!