We Need To Think Bigger It’s been over 18 months since Donald Trump left office, and we continue to be naive. It’s not helping. We collectively need way huger imaginations, and at every level. And we need to talk about risk way more than what we’re doing. Denial and naivete together are wickedly powerful, and they’re helping this country get weaker.
All of this! You ask the right questions, Vanessa. So how do we get the answers?
I have been appalled that our national security seems to be treated so cavalierly. But I’ll confess, while I thought it was strange to see those boxes moved out of the White House, I figured it was their “personal property”; I was just so giddy that they were finally getting out that I didn’t think about what might be in the boxes. And I suppose I thought there were protocols involved. Yah. Right. When did trump ever follow protocols? Sigh…
But one would think the members of the intelligence community would have noticed. Even though very few of them would have had the necessary security clearance to know the documents existed, some of them MUST have. Where were they? Had they “crossed over” to trump’s side?
All I know is that every time we think we have hit the absolute bottom with trump, something else inevitably comes up that has us hitting our foreheads again. So now we have to consider—what ELSE is out there? And if people like you and I don’t have enough info or insights to figure out the answer to that question, who DOES?
Very nice analysis, Vanessa. LMK if you want feedback on any particular argument, now or in the future. If you have a moment, I would love to hear back from you on this short piece. All the best,
Thank you so much. Appreciate your take on it. I also appreciated your piece linked here on the demagogue label being the most appropriate. It does actually help to think through that process, and to have deeper context - especially for those of us who write on this topic. I might have written some of the text on our website slightly differently (https://www.shiftthecountry.com/) having had that perspective before I wrote it - but we'll leave the website as is this fall. (The full text of the website is also in this PDF... https://assets.nationbuilder.com/shiftthecountry/pages/1/attachments/original/1660119091/ShiftTheCountry-GUIDE.pdf?1660119091).
The first time I heard "demagogue" used to describe Trump as a danger was about a week before the 2016 Iowa Caucuses. It was whispered by a high-up operative in the O'Malley campaign, with the full weight of the threat coming across in the moment; and clearly whispered out of fear that others in that same room were not ready yet to take the threat seriously. I had already been watching Trump more closely since the fall of 2015, as a friend in homeland security at the time had warned me of the support and excitement he was getting from the Boogaloo Boys and from other white supremacists and domestic violent extremists (DVEs). After hearing the whispered "demagogue" comment in February of 2016, I started digging further into the meaning of that and the deeper threat. Your post on this is excellent. (And I'll put the same comment on the original).
All of this! You ask the right questions, Vanessa. So how do we get the answers?
I have been appalled that our national security seems to be treated so cavalierly. But I’ll confess, while I thought it was strange to see those boxes moved out of the White House, I figured it was their “personal property”; I was just so giddy that they were finally getting out that I didn’t think about what might be in the boxes. And I suppose I thought there were protocols involved. Yah. Right. When did trump ever follow protocols? Sigh…
But one would think the members of the intelligence community would have noticed. Even though very few of them would have had the necessary security clearance to know the documents existed, some of them MUST have. Where were they? Had they “crossed over” to trump’s side?
All I know is that every time we think we have hit the absolute bottom with trump, something else inevitably comes up that has us hitting our foreheads again. So now we have to consider—what ELSE is out there? And if people like you and I don’t have enough info or insights to figure out the answer to that question, who DOES?
@Evelyn, EXACTLY. You have good questions, too.
I think the way we get at least some of them answered as we have to raise heck and keep asking them. And especially to our elected folks. And media.
We're ramping up to help with this as you know. Passing along our volunteer sign-up for folks to join in. Take care -Vanessa
https://www.shiftthecountry.com/volunteer
Very nice analysis, Vanessa. LMK if you want feedback on any particular argument, now or in the future. If you have a moment, I would love to hear back from you on this short piece. All the best,
https://elimerritt.substack.com/p/what-single-word-best-sums-up-trump?r=ezn4d&s=w&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Thank you so much. Appreciate your take on it. I also appreciated your piece linked here on the demagogue label being the most appropriate. It does actually help to think through that process, and to have deeper context - especially for those of us who write on this topic. I might have written some of the text on our website slightly differently (https://www.shiftthecountry.com/) having had that perspective before I wrote it - but we'll leave the website as is this fall. (The full text of the website is also in this PDF... https://assets.nationbuilder.com/shiftthecountry/pages/1/attachments/original/1660119091/ShiftTheCountry-GUIDE.pdf?1660119091).
The first time I heard "demagogue" used to describe Trump as a danger was about a week before the 2016 Iowa Caucuses. It was whispered by a high-up operative in the O'Malley campaign, with the full weight of the threat coming across in the moment; and clearly whispered out of fear that others in that same room were not ready yet to take the threat seriously. I had already been watching Trump more closely since the fall of 2015, as a friend in homeland security at the time had warned me of the support and excitement he was getting from the Boogaloo Boys and from other white supremacists and domestic violent extremists (DVEs). After hearing the whispered "demagogue" comment in February of 2016, I started digging further into the meaning of that and the deeper threat. Your post on this is excellent. (And I'll put the same comment on the original).
-Vanessa