"The president and other Republicans are insinuating that Zohran Mamdani, the naturalized American citizen who won the Democratic primary in the race for mayor of New York City, should be arrested, stripped of his citizenship, and deported from the country"
What is their reasoning for this? "Just 'cuz"? Winning a primary is grounds for stripping citizenship? Even by MAGA's own insane standards, this is double-insane.
You are correct, it is about the application of raw power. Putin has people tossed from windows so that others will know what faces them if they dare challenge him. Mamdani could wind up in Sudan or CECOT, a near-certain death sentence.
The only way to defeat an authoritarian is through the power of the ballot box, or the application of raw power. When Biden left the race, I considered whether he would take the opportunity to eliminate Trump, clearly as a matter of national security. He chose not to use the power that SCOTUS handed him, and left it up to voters.
I’ve always viewed the Republican Party as essentially saying, “Vote for us, because we will use raw power to defeat our enemies.” That has always meant most of us, making that party an obviously un-democratic one.
Eventually, Trump’s use of violence will come home to roost. Which will mean, for him, an ending like Ceausescu. His behavior during this second term makes that the most likely outcome.
Thanks for that. His best work, I think. I do tend to take a different view of these matters, and emphasize caution about too much despondency, and being understandably battered and shattered. Much as we like to brood about the daily outrages, we have been here before, and we will be here again. Our history always rhymes, and we all know the seemingly endless list, outrages big and not as big: The Iraq War, the political prosecution of Don Siegelman, Korematsu, The Trail of Tears, Operation Wet Back, legal Jim Crow, Guantanimo [still open!], etc etc, ad nauseam., forever and ever amen. American Tune resonated at a time when Trump was an ass clown only of concern to faithful readers of the NY tabloids. He'll be gone soon enough, and our children will have to finish cleaning up, and worry about the next one, and the one after that.
Professor Linker, does Trump’s proposal for Assemblyman Mamdani cause you to have any second thoughts about your views on the wisdom of the effort to disqualify Trump under the 14th Amendment?
Please call me Damon. And no, nothing would cause me to have second thoughts on my position about that. There is no legal means to solve the political problem of Donald Trump.
The crucial difference is that the Union first fought a bloody war with the South and defeated the Confederacy in battle, winning a surrender. That gave the Union the necessary leverage to impose that kind of penalty. But this does not at all describe the relation between the nearly 50 percent of the country willing to re-elect Trump president and the slightly smaller portion that hates him. Short of the latter fighting and winning a war with the former, it's a form of cosplay to think an interpretation of the 14th Amendment favored by one side in this dispute could impose it on the other.
I take your point, but suggest that we should have learned a lesson from from that experience and have cut this off before it comes to that point again.
Also, I think it's worth considering that the percentage of the populace that would have felt betrayed had. Trump not been able to run might be considerably smaller than the nearly 50% who ultimately voted for him.
What a circumstance, to find myself reflecting on the term Unamerican on Independence Day, and confronting (once again), that most of what we anguish over and mourn here is all too American. Insert your own list of our lowest moments as a nation here.
Those of us who aspire to principles of liberty and community and inclusion have always had to contend with those motivated to rig the system to privilege themselves. One of my first thoughts during Trump’s first campaign a decade ago was that we had our first post-modern political candidate, come to expose the construct we called a country and to explode the idea of shared facts, much less Truth.
As I often say, I do not blame Trump and his minions for the destruction we’re enduring. They are simply being themselves. Tens of millions of people gave them the opportunity, and it is they who are left to answer the question of what exactly it is they want. What is American? Or Unamerican? The danger of post-modern thought was never the relativism that so many decried in my youth, it was (and is) the misapprehension that nihilism is the proper reaction. Values, morals and meaning are a collective bargain formed by consensus. I don’t know what, or who, can step forward to stem the nihilistic tide washing over so much of humanity. I know who I am even as I am less sure of who everyone else is than ever. Whether we are simply in the middle of a long overdue identity crisis, a failure of imagination, or simply a tipping point of ignorance and a historicism, we are here now. If I have a fear it is that the transformation will be just banal and liminal enough not to rouse the masses, a drowsy nation slipping under the water and drowning in the bath.
Damon’s musical tastes are always revelatory. I have vivid memories of dancing around the house as a child (I’d have been three or four) when my Dad played There Goes Rhymin’ Simon. Loves Me Like A Rock was my jam and I hope anyone reading this meandering post knew what it was to be as loved as I was when my Dad would swing me around belting the hook.
I am also a fan of Aimee Mann, a powerful vocalist and a songwriter’s songwriter. She writes songs about ruptured (or rupturing) relationships but layered and expressed in terms that are always larger than just two people. Bachelor No. 2 is still my favorite of her albums with its Nilsson/Bacharach/Hamlisch arrangements and caustic retorts to a disappointing lover (or countryman?):
Yeah, that's one of those songs that nails its moment so perfectly your jaw drops. The line "You can't be forever blessed" haunts me to this day.
When I was teaching I would pair it with Iggy Pop's "Search and Destroy" (or sometimes the Sex Pistols' "God Save the Queen") to illustrate the mood of the seventies. (With the acknowledgment that most Americans never heard either, they were listening to schlock like Neil Diamonds' "Forever In Blue Jeans," or worse, Barry Manilow.)
Btw, do you know the version with Rhiannon Giddens from a couple years back, with it's lyric change "We didn't come here on the Mayflower/we came on a ship neath a blood-red moon ..."? Deserves a place in the file.
Thank you.
"The president and other Republicans are insinuating that Zohran Mamdani, the naturalized American citizen who won the Democratic primary in the race for mayor of New York City, should be arrested, stripped of his citizenship, and deported from the country"
What is their reasoning for this? "Just 'cuz"? Winning a primary is grounds for stripping citizenship? Even by MAGA's own insane standards, this is double-insane.
It is to demonstrate to people like us that they are in charge and can do anything they want.
Granted, but have they not even attempted providing an explanation, however idiotic?
If I’m right and that is the point an explanation defeats their purpose.
You are correct, it is about the application of raw power. Putin has people tossed from windows so that others will know what faces them if they dare challenge him. Mamdani could wind up in Sudan or CECOT, a near-certain death sentence.
The only way to defeat an authoritarian is through the power of the ballot box, or the application of raw power. When Biden left the race, I considered whether he would take the opportunity to eliminate Trump, clearly as a matter of national security. He chose not to use the power that SCOTUS handed him, and left it up to voters.
I’ve always viewed the Republican Party as essentially saying, “Vote for us, because we will use raw power to defeat our enemies.” That has always meant most of us, making that party an obviously un-democratic one.
Eventually, Trump’s use of violence will come home to roost. Which will mean, for him, an ending like Ceausescu. His behavior during this second term makes that the most likely outcome.
Thanks for that. His best work, I think. I do tend to take a different view of these matters, and emphasize caution about too much despondency, and being understandably battered and shattered. Much as we like to brood about the daily outrages, we have been here before, and we will be here again. Our history always rhymes, and we all know the seemingly endless list, outrages big and not as big: The Iraq War, the political prosecution of Don Siegelman, Korematsu, The Trail of Tears, Operation Wet Back, legal Jim Crow, Guantanimo [still open!], etc etc, ad nauseam., forever and ever amen. American Tune resonated at a time when Trump was an ass clown only of concern to faithful readers of the NY tabloids. He'll be gone soon enough, and our children will have to finish cleaning up, and worry about the next one, and the one after that.
Thank you, Damon. Best wishes for a happy (or happy enough) Independence Day to you and all your family.
Professor Linker, does Trump’s proposal for Assemblyman Mamdani cause you to have any second thoughts about your views on the wisdom of the effort to disqualify Trump under the 14th Amendment?
Please call me Damon. And no, nothing would cause me to have second thoughts on my position about that. There is no legal means to solve the political problem of Donald Trump.
We'll have to disagree I'm afraid. Trump's January 6 actions should have been treated no differently from Davis's.
The crucial difference is that the Union first fought a bloody war with the South and defeated the Confederacy in battle, winning a surrender. That gave the Union the necessary leverage to impose that kind of penalty. But this does not at all describe the relation between the nearly 50 percent of the country willing to re-elect Trump president and the slightly smaller portion that hates him. Short of the latter fighting and winning a war with the former, it's a form of cosplay to think an interpretation of the 14th Amendment favored by one side in this dispute could impose it on the other.
yes, that sums it up nicely.
I take your point, but suggest that we should have learned a lesson from from that experience and have cut this off before it comes to that point again.
Also, I think it's worth considering that the percentage of the populace that would have felt betrayed had. Trump not been able to run might be considerably smaller than the nearly 50% who ultimately voted for him.
Thank you Damon. Courage.
Your analogy to how one feels towards one’s parents is spot-on. Thanks for that.
What a circumstance, to find myself reflecting on the term Unamerican on Independence Day, and confronting (once again), that most of what we anguish over and mourn here is all too American. Insert your own list of our lowest moments as a nation here.
Those of us who aspire to principles of liberty and community and inclusion have always had to contend with those motivated to rig the system to privilege themselves. One of my first thoughts during Trump’s first campaign a decade ago was that we had our first post-modern political candidate, come to expose the construct we called a country and to explode the idea of shared facts, much less Truth.
As I often say, I do not blame Trump and his minions for the destruction we’re enduring. They are simply being themselves. Tens of millions of people gave them the opportunity, and it is they who are left to answer the question of what exactly it is they want. What is American? Or Unamerican? The danger of post-modern thought was never the relativism that so many decried in my youth, it was (and is) the misapprehension that nihilism is the proper reaction. Values, morals and meaning are a collective bargain formed by consensus. I don’t know what, or who, can step forward to stem the nihilistic tide washing over so much of humanity. I know who I am even as I am less sure of who everyone else is than ever. Whether we are simply in the middle of a long overdue identity crisis, a failure of imagination, or simply a tipping point of ignorance and a historicism, we are here now. If I have a fear it is that the transformation will be just banal and liminal enough not to rouse the masses, a drowsy nation slipping under the water and drowning in the bath.
Damon’s musical tastes are always revelatory. I have vivid memories of dancing around the house as a child (I’d have been three or four) when my Dad played There Goes Rhymin’ Simon. Loves Me Like A Rock was my jam and I hope anyone reading this meandering post knew what it was to be as loved as I was when my Dad would swing me around belting the hook.
I am also a fan of Aimee Mann, a powerful vocalist and a songwriter’s songwriter. She writes songs about ruptured (or rupturing) relationships but layered and expressed in terms that are always larger than just two people. Bachelor No. 2 is still my favorite of her albums with its Nilsson/Bacharach/Hamlisch arrangements and caustic retorts to a disappointing lover (or countryman?):
It doesn't really help that you can never say
What you're looking for
But you'll know it when you hear it,
Know it when you see it walk through the door
So you say,
So you've said many times before
That nothing is good enough
For people like you
Who have to have someone take the fall
And something to sabotage,
Determined to lose it all
Yeah, that's one of those songs that nails its moment so perfectly your jaw drops. The line "You can't be forever blessed" haunts me to this day.
When I was teaching I would pair it with Iggy Pop's "Search and Destroy" (or sometimes the Sex Pistols' "God Save the Queen") to illustrate the mood of the seventies. (With the acknowledgment that most Americans never heard either, they were listening to schlock like Neil Diamonds' "Forever In Blue Jeans," or worse, Barry Manilow.)
Btw, do you know the version with Rhiannon Giddens from a couple years back, with it's lyric change "We didn't come here on the Mayflower/we came on a ship neath a blood-red moon ..."? Deserves a place in the file.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67pyIglP79U
I've heard the version with Rhiannon Giddens and it's amazing (thanks for the link), as is the version Damon linked to.
Beautiful song. Paul Simon is an American treasure.
I decided this morning that I can't go to the fireworks today - my heart is too broken over what is happening to this country.
Thank you, Damon. So much said with layers of history, punctuated with musicality.
Very well said. Happy 4th to all regardless, except for.....................
Thank you, Damon, for your reflections on this Independence Day. And thanks, especially, for Cecile McLorin Salvant’s deeply moving performance!