In Episode 62 [23] of the CounterVortex podcast [24], Bill Weinberg grimly notes that, even with 400,000 Americans dead to COVID-19, the worst potentialities of the Trump presidency were not realized. Trump never (quite) established a dictatorship, and we didn't (quite) go over the edge into civil war. The critical task now for the country's progressive forces is to push for a maximal and thoroughgoing detrumpification—akin to the denazification [25] of Germany after World War II. We may truly hope that the Capitol insurrection [26] will prove to have been the last gasp of Trumpism. However, it may have been his Beerhall Putsch [27]—and, as last time, there could be a second act [28]. The more thoroughly Trumpism is reversed, the more likely it will be defeated and broken politically—especially given its glorification of "winning" and denigration of "weakness." The risk of sparking a backlash is not to be dismissed, but the greater risk is that of appeasement. Listen on SoundCloud [23] or via Patreon [29].
Production by Chris Rywalt [32]
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