Institutionalism

 Amongst the Manic Progressives on Twitter, there is a broad consensus that we shouldn't be patting ourselves on the back until Trump is forcibly ejected from the Oval Office. Until that happens, he could still somehow remain in power. This has largely been because Trump has defied the usual political gravity that sinks most politicians. 

Institutionalists note that Trump actually accomplished very little. He didn't build his wall, he didn't pull the US out of NATO. His trade wars were largely failures. Some of this was Democratic control of the House after 2018, but he was impeached because the institutions of national security rose up and thwarted him. 

As the Post notes, while high profile elected Republicans like Mitch McConnell have been craven and silent, judges and election officials of both parties have swatted away Trump's empty claims of voter fraud. While his QAnon nutters are seizing our attention on the hellscape of cable news, a lot of normal Republicans are abiding by the agreed upon institutions of American political life.

Institutions do not change easily. This is what makes them institutions.

Meanwhile, we have Joe Biden beginning to announce his Cabinet. Trump has waged war on the institutions of foreign policy - the State Department, the Pentagon, the intelligence community. Biden is clearly making his selections to reinvigorate and reinforce those institutions. I haven't been to Twitter yet, but I'm sure the Brooklyn podcasters are up in arms over Anthony Blinken for some obscure fucking reason. Basically, as Biden tries to shore up the institutions of our democracy that Trump waged a four year war of attrition on, the Rose Brigade - who fancy themselves revolutionaries - will despair that their revolution isn't coming.

And thank dog for that.