Narrative

It's been somewhat heartening that the media narrative has coalesced so quickly around what happened at the #TreasonSummit.  There hasn't been a lot of pushback against the idea that Trump humiliated himself and the country. Even Fox and Friends on state television has pushed back a bit.  Yeah, Hannity is fluffing Trump and Carlson is raging against Mexicans, but the rest of the network is judt dumbfounded.  The rest of the media landscape is coherent and consistent.  Eventually, Fox News will find a way to exculpate Trump, but right now - as many have said - this is a Charlottesville moment of stripping away the bullshit.  Trump stands accused by his own words.

When Jon Chait published his Magnus Trumpus, laying out the case that Trump is more than just sympathetic to Russia, but actively compromised and working for them, there was a lot of "well, wait a minute, buster" hand wringing from Sober Centrists and Conservative Intellectuals.  If anything, Chait stands very much vindicated by the run of events.  Trump's behavior in Europe - with NATO, with May, with the EU and with Putin - makes the most plausible explanation that Trump does more than simply agree with Putin's style, but is actively pushing Putin's agenda. 

As I say, eventually Fox will find a way around this damning piece of evidence.  With Charlottesville, it wasn't a big deal, because who cares about racism, and aren't white people the REAL victims of racism and blah blah blah. This cuts to the core of Trumpism: America First, dominance politics...Trump looked like a beaten man sitting next to Putin.  The images simply don't lie.  Yet, somehow Fox will find a way.

Two suggestions showed up on Twitter for how to handle this as citizens.  First, there is no Trump, no Trumpism, without Fox News.  We need to launch nationwide boycotts against the network's advertisers.  This will be tricky, but if Fox - as I predict - starts to mirror Trump and Putin's rhetoric, then you can make the case that Fox is joining in these treasonous acts.  Second was the idea of a general strike.  Shutting down the nation for a day or two would be a powerful statement, more powerful than protest marches.

As Charlie Pierce writes, the crisis is upon us.  Fox News and the Republican Party won't save this country. Only its people can, and I'm not sure how we go about doing that without Republican help. 

Finally, fuck you Republicans for putting the nation in this position.