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Where Things Stand: Willing To Listen To Anyone, Anything 
In the waning weeks and days of Trump’s presidency, we knew from his public statements and retweets of widely debunked conspiracy theories that he had little left to work with in his push to overturn the election.
What Is Your De-Trumping Story?
There is an understandable and wise desire not to breathe too big a sigh of relief. Most of us realize that the reality and threat of Trumpism is far from over. Indeed, there could even be another Trump presidency in four years, though I think that’s quite unlikely. I want to ask you something different: How have you experienced the end of Trump’s presidency? I mean at a basic experiential level.
As much as I have written about the centrality, power and chaotic force of Trump’s Twitter feed I was not prepared for the impact of his account being suspended in early January, a couple weeks ahead of Biden’s inauguration. It was like he just ceased to exist and I voice I’d heard – literally or figuratively – barking in my head for more than five years just went silent. From what I can tell it hit him just as powerfully. Losing his twitter megaphone seems to have undone him.
After Trump’s Bogus Claims, Restrictive Voting Proposals Are Surging In The States
Where Things Stand: More Proof Red States Welcoming Federal Vaccine Help
Austerity be damned in the age of COVID-19.
That’s the messaging from at least one Republican governor who just this morning said that being fiscally responsible at this point no longer matters as the nation reels from more than 400,000 COVID-19 deaths and an economy on life-support.
Convergent Evolution
One of the uncanny features of the COVID Pandemic – certainly one of the great events of all of our lifetimes – is the mix of horror and fascination one experiences learning new dimensions of the scourge. One of these for me has been watching scientists unravel the details of the new COVID variants now galloping around the globe, a sprint of investigative work only possible with the powerful genomic analysis tools that didn’t even exist a few decades ago. (In 1918, science didn’t even know there was such a thing as viruses. Or rather viruses weren’t recognized as distinct from bacterial infection.)
For me the big fascination and warning sign has been the new discussion of ‘convergent evolution’.
I think something is getting lost in the discussion of Trump’s Impeachment 2.0 lawyers quitting. They reportedly bailed because they were unwilling to argue Trump’s lies about the election being stolen. But arguing the election was stolen amounts to an affirmative defense of the events of January 6th. In other words, Trump isn’t guilty not because he didn’t incite the insurrection but because the incitement and the insurrection were justified.
The Capitol Insurrection Was Decades In The Making
Where Things Stand: Easier To Coup
On an election night where the President thought things were going well, Arizona quickly stood out as a sore spot.
Not only did Trump hope to win the state, it was his once-beloved Fox News that called Arizona for Biden first. Trump was reportedly irate and tried to pressure the cable news network to reverse the call.