“And I Alone Am Escaped Alive With The Moral Authority To Tell Ye”

"A demagogue like Trump is only possible in times of either desperation or decadence.
And I’ve seen enough boat parades to know which one we’re in right now." - @JVLast

— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) February 10, 2024

Although I’m still not sure if boat parades are decadent, or despairing.

I’m pretty sure a demagogue like Trump is always possible. And at least after FDR, with the exception of Eisenhower (maybe the last decent Republican in the White House), we’ve had a string of ‘em, closer and closer and closer, until we finally got Trump.

All of them Republicans; but there’s also the 20th century birth, and growth, of the Imperial Presidency.

We, the people, wanted this, in other words. And not because we are decadent or in despair. It just makes things easier, you know? Besides: lower taxes, and all the wrong people getting stuff; like the vote, and even a President.