inessential by Brent Simmons

Notes

I think the goal has to be to make sure Trump doesn’t finish his first term. Ideally he is revealed as who he is — a cruel and deeply corrupt man, unfit to be called an American, much less President — and finds that even Republicans in Congress won’t support him anymore, and he resigns in disgrace.

There are theories that Republicans would impeach him — we take that there would be a reason as a given, given his personal corruption — since that would give them President Pence, who’s an electrocuting sicko but is, in their eyes, a normal Republican likely to go along with their policy.

I don’t know. And I know I wouldn’t like President Pence. But still, it would be a defeat for Trump and for Trumpism, and that’s important.

* * *

It’s apparent that protests get under Trump’s skin. That’s a good thing to know.

Getting under his skin is a way to goad him into revealing himself. I assume that there will be large protests in many American cities on Inauguration Day.

* * *

You should read Autocracy: Rules for Survival.

* * *

As we’re making our to-do lists and figuring out what to focus on, let’s remember that freedom of speech and of the press is the core freedom of our democracy.

These freedoms can be degraded without any new laws being made — but Trump has already said he’d like to “open up” libel laws. His hatred of the press isn’t rhetoric for his base: it’s real.

Preserving free speech and a free press has to be at the top of our list.

* * *

This is not normal. This is not just another Republican.

I was born in 1968, which means I’ve lived through Nixon, Ford, Reagan, Bush I, and Bush II. Trump doesn’t belong on that list — he’s a would-be dictator who will, with the support of an amoral and cowardly Congress, have the chance to act like one.