Ever since the rise of talk radio in the 1980s, the word "liberal" has been turned into a smear. The absurdity of some farther left positions has aided in this, but it's been a coordinated attack on the very concept of liberal politics by attacking the word used to describe it. As Heather Cox Richardson points out, "liberalism" is what won World War II and built the strongest country the world has ever known.
Richardson goes further and argues that liberalism defeated fascism, and now fascism is rising as a force here in the US - a nation that has forgotten its past as standing against fascism.
Krugman (sub req?) notes that trade liberalization has made America a wealthy country, even at the expense of manufacturing jobs.
The torrent of shit emanating from DC this week - and for the foreseeable future - is intended to overwhelm resistance. However, there are forces of gravity that should crash this, the same way they crash all radical attempts at governance. The American people did not vote for Project 2025, despite Democrats warning them about it. They are definitely going to get it, though, good and hard.
None of this stuff is really popular outside MAGA. Sure, "foreign aid" is always a bugaboo of the poorly informed, so freezing that could be popular. People don't want to bring measles back, though. People don't want trade wars that spike prices.
I also don't think they want to crater NATO, as Trump seems intent on doing. The bonkers Greenland saga seems half about the idiot man-boy who wants to be king of the world and half about blowing up NATO.
When Trump "won" in 2016, it shocked me about the moral nihilism of my fellow countrymen. How could they even think about voting for this charlatan? This time around though, I have to face the fact that people are going to die because we elected this wretched moron president. I don't like it, and it disgusts me that I'm sitting here, shrugging my shoulders about the fact. I wish RFK Jr could bring a plague down just on MAGA (and anti-vax cranks might just find that out), but it will hurt all of us.
In four years time, Trump will be gone. I know some GOP asshole has introduced an amendment to repeal the term limits. Not happening. So, when he goes, the question will be what sort of wreckage is left in his wake.
Economic wreckage will blight the lives of those most vulnerable.
Political wreckage will further erode faith in our institutions.
It's in international relations that the wreckage could be irreparable. America's privileged position in the world is not simply because we have aircraft carriers, make Marvel movies and are the richest country. We are privileged because we at least try and articulate an idea about democracy that inspires people around the world. Even if we soundly defeat Trumpism - presuming we are allowed to elect our leaders in the future, which I think we largely will - the world will always look askance at the country that elected him in the first place.
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