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   Thomas Zimmer (tzimmer_history@mastodon.social)'s status on Saturday, 08-Mar-2025 10:52:27 JST Thomas Zimmer

   The Precarious State of the Union

   The fallout from Trump’s bizarre speech in Congress, the Supreme Court’s relationship with MAGA, and what it all adds up to 47 days into the Trumpist regime.

   Some thoughts from the new episode of Is This Democracy:

   🧵
    
   https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/40-the-precarious-state-of-the-union/id1652741954?i=1000698243703

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     Thomas Zimmer (tzimmer_history@mastodon.social)'s status on Saturday, 08-Mar-2025 10:52:25 JST Thomas Zimmer

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     Bonus: Here is that Exploding Heads segment I quote:

     The opposition leader: “Historians will forever remember when we held up very small signs.”

     The anchor: “It seems a bit weak. Someone said you’re like Wes Anderson characters who haven’t realized you’re in a Tarantino movie.”

     Lol. Tough but fair.

     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5ZbiR0003Q

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     Thomas Zimmer (tzimmer_history@mastodon.social)'s status on Saturday, 08-Mar-2025 10:52:26 JST Thomas Zimmer

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     The bad news: This should not have been close at all, and yet it was. And, crucially, we must resist the temptation to legitimize John Robert’s idea of judicial supremacy – even when he occasionally tells the most extreme rightwing forces to knock it off (for now). John Roberts will never be democracy’s savior.

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     Thomas Zimmer (tzimmer_history@mastodon.social)'s status on Saturday, 08-Mar-2025 10:52:26 JST Thomas Zimmer

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     Finally, One Big Thing we have been thinking about: Lily brings up the pushback Republicans have been getting from their base in town halls. Could this frustration actually weaken Trump’s hold over the base? Is a reverse-Tea Party a possibility? We’ll believe it when we see it…

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     Thomas Zimmer (tzimmer_history@mastodon.social)'s status on Saturday, 08-Mar-2025 10:52:26 JST Thomas Zimmer

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     I have been asked the same question over and over again: Don’t the Trumpists understand how much they are weakening America at home and abroad?

     The most plausible answer: What they are doing to America is not an accident or an unintended consequence. They really mean it.

     Adrianna Tan and Evan Prodromou repeated this.
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     Thomas Zimmer (tzimmer_history@mastodon.social)'s status on Saturday, 08-Mar-2025 10:52:27 JST Thomas Zimmer

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     In his speech, Trump didn’t say anything he hasn’t said many times before. But the whole spectacle revealed so much about Trumpism as a political project, fueled by grievance and lust for domination – and about a Republican Party that is entirely defined by its devotion to it.

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     Thomas Zimmer (tzimmer_history@mastodon.social)'s status on Saturday, 08-Mar-2025 10:52:27 JST Thomas Zimmer

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     Similarly, the Democratic (non-)response offered a window into America’s nominal opposition party: Split between those who still cling to politics-as-usual, dreams of bipartisan “unity,” and impotent collaboration – and those who understand the emergency we face.

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     Thomas Zimmer (tzimmer_history@mastodon.social)'s status on Saturday, 08-Mar-2025 10:52:27 JST Thomas Zimmer

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     We then talk about the Supreme Court intervening this week, siding against the Trumpist regime’s egregious attempt to freeze all foreign aid funding and simply not pay the government’s bills. The good news: The Court narrowly held that the rule of law and the constitutional order still somewhat matter.