Michael Kaplan

Michael Kaplan

@differance.bsky.social

Writer. Teacher. Scholar of rhetoric, media and democracy. Chicago Bears and Arsenal fan. My work is mysterious and important.

1K followers342 following20.5K posts

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But now you're suddenly conceding that Trump and Trumpism are a problem—a problem for others to fix. Not only must those same voters drive Republicans out of congress, but the Democrats who replace them must stop Trump from doing what you helped enable him to do.

The very people you have consistently blamed for Trump's misconduct while minimizing and excusing that misconduct are now charged with bailing out the country and The New York Times. Now THAT is rich.

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You have routinely blamed Democrats, leftists, activists, universities, and urban voters for prompting the resentment of Trump supporters and for driving Trump himself to lash out at anyone and everyone.

But for over a decade now, you have soft-pedaled, rationalized, euphemized, sanewashed, and bothsidesed Trump's vile behavior. You have cravenly and consistently betrayed both your mission and your country.

Michael Kaplan reposted

Replying to @rafiews.com

More shocking displays by Bolsonaro supporters in the last 24 hours: voters wearing T-shirts that say “long live fascism,” doing a Nazi salute when entering the polls, and a white man walking a Black man on a chain at a pro-Bolsonaro gathering in Rio de Janeiro.

more often than we realize, what appear at first to be norm violations or even the disintegration of erstwhile norms are actually effects of disappearing or malfunctioning public infrastructures.