Chait loves trolling the Far Left from the Medium Left. Here are two examples. The first, I largely agree with. "Defunding the Police" is a bad slogan, because you have to explain what you really mean by it. It sounds like one thing, but really is another. I like "Demilitarize the Police" because I would wager it's popular, gets at the heart of the problem and embraces reforms that the public largely supports. As Chait notes, the job of activists isn't to appeal to workable legislative and electoral coalitions; it's to change the conversation. The problem is that we have seen ample evidence that activists get outraged when their preferred policy positions are not completely followed.
His other trolling is part of a consistent set of writing he advances about illiberal leftists. Some of it, I agree with. I feel my own school slipping into some forms of restrictive behaviors. There is some merit is placing certain words and concepts beyond the Pale, but it can get out of control. At some point, people need to confront ideas and concepts that are troubling. I don't think, however, the anger over Tom Cotton's piece was misplaced. Giving op-ed real estate for naked authoritarianism - especially from someone as dangerous as Tom Cotton - was a piss poor judgment call from the Times. And hardly their first.
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