Or Can’t We?

Anyway, joking aside, the point is that we shouldn't overreact to Trump's threats of violence. Of course he was going to do this. Trump, and his supporters, are violent people!
We must be vigilant, and prepared, but we CANNOT BE afraid of these people.

— Elie Mystal (@ElieNYC) March 18, 2023

True. But:

Trump uses ad baculum (threats of force or intimidation) to change the subject of debate from "is there probable cause that Trump is guilty of a crime?" to "will Trump's supporters use violence against the government if he is indicted for a crime?"

He's a dangerous demagogue. https://t.co/7UUuPw8RtH

— Jennifer Mercieca (@jenmercieca) March 18, 2023

Has he changed the subject? Or did we let him change it by chasing the shiny object of his post today? I saw it retweeted at least 6 times, including Tom Nichols insisting everyone in America should read it (while forgetting how few Americans are on Twitter, and how incendiary Trump’s lies are). People are still tweeting about an indictment on Tuesday, a date Trump just made up for his own purposes.

To all the people who are saying "Stop amplifying Trump."

I want every single person of voting age in the United States to know what he said today.

— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) March 18, 2023

Sorry, Tom; too much of America has read Trump’s rant already. Identifying Trump’s threat as ad baculum simultaneously elevates and diminishes his threat. A) it’s not worth the seriousness of the analysis. B) it’s not a serious analysis.

Trump is not doing anything we don’t let him do. Because really, he’s not doing anything. Will there be violence? The last time there was, it was two months in the making. And I remember all the threats of violence during Covid: protests against masks and shutdowns, most of which failed because they weren’t planned or organized, just threatened on social media.

There are people online who think DeSantis can protect Trump by refusing to extradite him to Florida.

Quite openly, by the super pac backing him and his adviser @JasonMillerinDC https://t.co/tug6icfD8f

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) March 18, 2023

(No, that is not a serious defense.)

and its with this backdrop that House Republicans head to their retreat in Orlando. It will run from Sunday to Tuesday https://t.co/5M6RwPV90c

— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) March 18, 2023

Expect more nonsense; respect less of it.

ITOH, Tom Nichols isn’t completely wrong. This is just nuts:

decided to double-down instead pic.twitter.com/99wZbJo1bl

— The Ghost of GC 🌻 (@gtconway3dg) March 18, 2023

I mean, when you take out the assault on the legal system, you’re just left with unadulterated lunacy. Well, and more American carnage than you can fit in an abattoir. But I repeat myself.