Trump week 1: on fears of a coup

[john_b_cannon]

The problem with these medium.com shock pieces is that they're demobilizing. It's hard to tell how much of Trump's first week is strategy and how much of it is incompetence. But we know that one thing that has slowed previous Republican over-reaches (Contract with America, government shutdowns, etc.) is protest and outrage, and this week has seen a

Comments

Agitation and Control.

[anonymous]

You are definitely on the mark, this isn't the kind of thing that will just fade. It is more likely both sides will continue to up the ante until there is a reckoning of sorts. The dynamic is agitation and control and the point of the former is to constantly frustrate the latter until it lashes out violently and shows institutional power for the heavy handed bullies they are. You also have the dynamic of an administration that can't keep order which also frustrates them and can force their hand in often explosive and damaging ways. Passive violence works because when they beat you up they show the world who they are.

Are you missing the point?

[anonymous]

I have read and shared on FB several medium posts this week alluding to the smokescreen/rope-a-dope tactics Trump's cabal are employing. For you to dismiss these writers for lacking expertise on social dynamics is simply not justified. The mainstay of multiple recent articles by medium writers is not a negative criticism of demonstrations, but an observation that the media then focuses on the masses assembled, not the more indidious machinations afoot in the White House. Yes, when I dig deep into the LA Times I can find disturbing news about Bannon's takeover of the NSC, but I know how few people are plowing through the immigration and demonstration coverage to see these details clearly. Moreso, the Times' own analysis of White House strategy and tactics is beyond naive in its cautious objectivity-over-insightfulness approach. That said, kudos for your Melancholia observation. I've been trying to get a handle on the emotional responses I sense brewing up, despair and defiance, defeat and the thrill of a resistance building up and

Re: Are you missing the point?

[john_b_cannon]

I think the Medium articles are getting too much attention. On their own, they are what they are -- sort of interesting speculation about stuff we can't really know for sure. But they are getting shared so much that it seems like people think that if we just read the tea leaves carefully enough, we will know the Truth about Bannon's dastardly scheme and that will let us ... do what exactly is never clear; there the pieces break down. It's a moderately educated rumination on fear that produces more fear.

There are things to be fearful of that have happened since Trump took office, clearly. But let's keep an eye on the bigger, knowable picture.

[anonymous]

Excellent piece. Thankyou.