Valerie Bunce

Maybe she should read the report or, even more useful, the bipartisan Senate report? I know—too much to ask.

Political scientist here: we cannot talk about realignment on the basis of one election, any more than we can crown a new post-authoritarian regime a democracy after one election.

This is just great! Memories of all the Stalin statues coming down, not to mention Saddam and others.

And, of course, Michelle would be in the foreground.

Yes. I would say he is even getting more upfront about protecting his inflated ego—as though it were his due. This behavior ties in well with his edifice complex—building monuments to himself and slapping his name on existing buildings. It is one of the few days Trump is transparent.

Many faculty will be stuck there, because finding new employment will be very hard, and they will be under great pressure to toe the official line. Only those departments that directly feed students into a worsening job market will survive. As for attracting good, new faculty…

Exactly.

A rare moment of honesty.

Fussy, fussy.

They are coming for the students! This reads like what happens when students come up to me after a lecture.

and might

Yes, the key is prevailing in every contest, with virtually every interaction seen as a contest. But that way of thinking and acting can add up to something: the rules of a ruleless game at home and abroad. No institutions, temporary alliances. Trump first and America first are one and the same.

“Gentlemen: stop fighting in the war room.”

Thank-you for this and your other insights.

Good one! Beria was a bad boy!

Yes, “advice is just an excuse.” Who thinks, anyway, that Trump gets “advice” from the sycophants surrounding him?

Or Trump cutting to the chase: why settle for “nuke” as just a metaphor when you can do the real thing?

Like states control their own cities? There are many ways trump and his state-level supporters could interfere before, during and after the elections, and the insurrection act could serve as a pretext for canceling the elections. We always under-estimate how far Trump will go to win and keep power.

Perfect.

Now he is a currency King as well. Will he sell reproductions of the Nobel Prize medal to match his sneakers, bible and watch?

Jeff Sharlet. The Trumpistas are also reminiscent of ambitious dictatorships, like the Soviet Union, that joined domestic repression with international de-stabilization. Domestic security/aggression went hand-in-hand with international security/aggression.

Steve M. Yes, Vance has Maga-endearing qualities, but Maga is not big enough to win an election, and non-Magas are repulsed by him.

Everything about this administration, Jim, is so nostalgic! The return of old diseases, old forms of energy, racism, patriarchy and, as you know especially well, gunboat diplomacy and a world divided into zones of influence. All of this was so great the last time that Trump wants to go back.

Exactly—no local partners, no decent track record.

I guess it is time for a show trial.

As Trump’s popularity declines, new acolytes come fir-ward.

He is also flirting with a third term to keep Vance in his place. Designated successors, every authoritarian ruler knows, are always too eager to replace the leader in their way.

Yes, I have been double-whammed as well. So bad, it borders on something else—maybe a bit funny?

It is so hard to keep a straight face reading his rendition of US foreign policy as generous and principled interventions abroad. Why not add one more word at least to the end: protection “racket.”

Or hoods?