Trumpism came to it is no coincidence that explain “how” be, or “why” it resonates. As such, those who view said themes as explanations fail to realize that these socio-political developments are not all that novel, nor were they unpredictable. Historically, the style and substance of Trumpism is more “rule” than “exception.” Far from anomaly, this is part and parcel of the American Experiment, a dark underside of its public philosophy that consistently rears its head in times of crisis or social change. As such, these four by their very nature as constants quite literally do not constitute any substantive or constants – – stylistic in American politics. Nor can they explain Trumpism. The authoritarian variations image he seeks to cultivate, the paranoid style of his incessant 140-character populist outbursts, the divisive polarization his administration embodies in its executive directives, policy positions, and legislative output (all of which frequently spill over into cruel and unusual, a place where his rhetoric lives), and the political spectacle he performs as which “reality” consists of that is effectively propaganda and that is literally “news” “news” “fake news”: original sins, all. And if these sins truly do represent the dark side of the Experiment, then President Donald Trump is their living embodiment. The success of a plainly incoherent anti-campaign, which perennially lapsed into the nonsensical, is unintelligible at first glance. That such an ethos still holds sway for a significant minority of the public today, even as the substance of his platform melts into air, seems equally incomprehensible. However, in historical context this is not only intelligible and comprehensible, on its own terms, it is perfectly logical. This is not to deny the extraordinary, even surreal, of the American social mise-en-scène order at present. We must acknowledge that which actually unprecedented: social media, data is analytics, and all their accoutrement represent tectonic shifts in the 21st century political and social landscape; and, in the electoral process, especially their alleged collusion Russia’s interference
explain “how” Trumpism came to be, or “why” it resonates. As such, it is no coincidence that those who view said themes as explanations fail to realize that these socio-political developments are not all that novel, nor were they unpredictable. Historically, the style and substance of Trumpism is more “rule” than “exception.” Far from anomaly, this is part and parcel of the American Experiment, a dark underside of its public philosophy that consistently rears its head in times of crisis or social change. As such, these four constants – by their very nature as constants – quite literally do not constitute any substantive or stylistic variations in American politics. Nor can they explain Trumpism. The authoritarian populist image he seeks to cultivate, the paranoid style of his incessant 140-character outbursts, the divisive polarization his administration embodies in its executive directives, policy positions, and legislative output (all of which frequently spill over into cruel and unusual, a place where his rhetoric lives), and the political spectacle he performs as “reality” which consists of “news” that is effectively propaganda and “news” that is literally “fake news”: original sins, all. And if these sins truly do represent the dark side of the Experiment, then President Donald Trump is their living embodiment. The success of a plainly incoherent anti-campaign, which perennially lapsed into the nonsensical, is unintelligible at first glance. That such an ethos still holds sway for a significant minority of the public today, even as the substance of his platform melts into air, seems equally incomprehensible. However, in historical context this is not only intelligible and comprehensible, on its own terms, it is perfectly logical. This is not to deny the extraordinary, even surreal, mise-en-scène of the American social order at present. We must acknowledge that which actually is unprecedented: social media, data analytics, and all their accoutrement represent tectonic shifts in the 21st century political and social landscape; and, Russia’s interference in the electoral process, especially their alleged collusion