Fight Everywhere

 There's a fascinating interview and article at The Atlantic where they interview Trump within the context of his political comeback. As they accurately note, Trump was deservedly left for dead after January 6th and then he claws his way back to actually winning a plurality of the popular vote. It's remarkable and deeply disheartening. 

One of the insights from the interview was Trump's basic style - deny everything, attack everywhere - does seem to legitimately have fueled his political resurrection. He still won't or can't admit he lost in 2020. He hasn't fired Hegseth. He won't climb down from the tariffs. 

Never apologize, never back down, dominate the narrative with a firehose of outrages. 

Trump's assault on democracy is less a coherent plan than an attempt to overwhelm America's natural defenses against autocracy by sheer mass and repetition. Listening to Trump lie repeatedly and shamelessly is really hard for people like me to even respond to. How can that be OK in an American president? Hell, I wouldn't accept it in a real estate developer.

In the shocking aftermath of his election victory, the natural question became "How can Democrats resist him?" He has seemingly - once again - violated the political laws of gravity. In fact, he had won more votes than the Democratic candidate for the first time.

The Very Savvy take was to focus on a few economic issues that were most likely to resonate with swing voters. That's why you had so many Democratic politicians talking about the price of eggs.

Then came "Liberation Day." 

While this did some of the heavy lifting of convincing American voters that Trump's plans were both bad and erratic, what's fascinating is that it is not solely on the economy where his numbers are tanking. You also have speeches like the stemwinder that Illinois governor JB Pritzker delivered (in New Hampshire, of course).

Pritzker makes the point that you have to oppose Trump when he does something wrong like the Abrego Garcia case. The Savvy Consultant will tell you - and not without reason - that any discussions of Trump and immigration helps him, because that issue is where he's strongest. What Pritzker and others, including AOC, are saying is that you have to attack him when he does something as transparently awful as that and you can't be solely reactive.

And it seems to be working. 

Marshall reminds us that public opinion matters, even in a would-be dictatorship. Trump can only be dictatorial as long as he remains somewhat popular. I think the recent attacks on the Judiciary will combine with tanking approval ratings to embolden the Courts to stand up to him. Yes, the Republican Congress is a weak, weak reed, but at some point they will get the message that this guy is toxic - again.

It's not that denying January 6th is a popular position, nor were the pardons. People legitimately hated that (not his cult, but most people). Denying that it was bad over and over again did give a permission structure for many Republicans to support him again. It was still bad and leaning into the pardons made him less popular.

Because Trump only knows how to attack and deny, his tariff fiasco is likely to continue - at least for a little while. We shall see what Trump does when store shelves start to empty. Yes, again, his cultists will proudly embrace the economic pain as the price of MAGA. Most people will not. It will suck and he will be 100% responsible for it. Biden contributed at the margins of inflation, but it was a global phenomenon. Trump is the sole reason for the coming freeze in global trade.

Because all he knows how to do is deny and attack, though, he will struggle to change course. The "adults in the room" are largely gone. 

There's an old saying that "personnel is policy." The people you staff your government with will determine how and what you actually do. Biden staffed his administration with a people from the Progressive "groups" and that moved his policy to the left of where Biden likely was himself. Trump has staffed his government with sycophants and cultists. 

There will be no easy retreat from the aspects of MAGA that America hates and fears, but that is actually our hope. 

The show Andor is about how rebellions happen (within the Star Wars canon). It seems perfect for this moment. One of the characters writes

There will be times when the struggle seems impossible. I know this already. Alone, unsure, dwarfed by the scale of the enemy. Remember this: Freedom is a pure idea. It occurs spontaneously and without instruction.

Random acts of insurrection are occurring constantly throughout the galaxy. There are whole armies, battalions that have no idea that they’ve already enlisted in the cause. Remember that the frontier of the Rebellion is everywhere. And even the smallest act of insurrection pushes our lines forward.

And then remember this: The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear.

And know this: the day will come when all these skirmishes and battles, these moments of defiance will have flooded the banks of the Empire’s authority and then there will be one too many. One single thing will break the siege. 

Remember this. Try.