I wasn't worried and am still not worried about a descent into fascism, because I don't think Trump or his admin is made up of fascists. I think it is true they have contempt for the system that restrains them, viewing all obstacles as opponents, and they take glee in the standoff. But that's more the ideological core of the people in the White House than fascism, which matters. Not everything has to be a historical analogue.
I've got plenty of faith in courts, Congress, the media, voter sentiment, etc. containing this admin's worst instincts. And, for the most part, still do (see the tariff backdown, for instance).
But as calls to defy SCOTUS and court orders grow louder, including from Republican members of Congress and influential members of the conservative media ecosystem, my confidence erodes. Yours should, too.
I genuinely view my job as calling balls & strikes honestly as I see them -- with transparency and integrity. I expected plenty of bad outcomes from Trump 2.0 because it was clear to me he was on a revenge tour more than he was on a 2016-style-save-the-forgotten-man tour. I also had hope for a lot of good (including the return of more order on the border).
But the last 2 weeks have been incredibly disappointing, depressing, and scary, and I'm not going to pretend otherwise for the sake of appearing "nonpartisan" or "doing centrism." That would just be subscribing to an ideology which is as bad as being tribalistically left or right. Nonpartisan, to me, is having no allegiance to either major political party, which I don't. I happen to also have moderate and centirst-looking politics on a lot of issues, which is convenient. And also ends up making it so my views are much more tempered than the legion of alarmist and fire breathers in our modern media.
But, at some point, even the level-headed among us need to be able to call out frightening developments without fearing accusations of pearl-clutching, TDS, partisanship, or overreacting. So, the truth is I haven't really ever seen a moment like this.
I'm alarmed, and worried, about a genuine crisis if Trump & co. ignore the Supreme Court, or lower courts, and what happens when those courts try to enforce orders that are being ignored. I'm concerned about the number of people genuinely willing to back Trump on this one issue even if it means ignoring SCOTUS, as if that won't set a new standard we all have to live with. I'm concerned about the Twitterization of government and the brain rot this website has seemed to cause in so many otherwise rational people. All of it scares me.
Isaac - if I remember right (which I may not!), around election time, you felt concerns around a descent into facism were unwarranted and you were urging calm? Been keen to know - has your position changed at all?