Tag: charles grassley

Many people are worried, rightly, about what the appointment of Brett Kavanaugh means for America in the long term. But Donald Trump quickly made it much worse, attributing protests against Kavanaugh to George Soros and declaring, falsely (and with no evidence), that the protesters were being paid. Senator John Cornyn declared, “We will not be bullied by the screams of paid protesters.” No, the protesters aren’t being paid to protest, let alone by George Soros. Conspiracy theorizing has been a part of American politics from the beginning. When people who hold most of the levers of power do the same thing, their fantasizing isn’t a delusion, it’s a tool: a way to delegitimize opposition, to create excuses not just for disregarding but for punishing anyone who dares to criticize their actions. And now senior figures in the Republican Party, which controls all three branches of the federal government — if you had any questions about whether the Supreme Court was a partisan institution, they should be gone now — are sounding just like the white nationalists in Hungary and Poland. is an authoritarian regime in waiting. The senators parroting conspiracy theories about Soros-paid protesters? What we’ve learned in the past few weeks is that there is no gap between Trump and his party, nobody who will say stop in the name of American values. is an authoritarian regime in waiting, not yet one in practice.

Many people are worried, rightly, about what the appointment of Brett Kavanaugh means for America in the long term. But Donald Trump quickly made it much worse, attributing protests against Kavanaugh to George Soros and declaring, falsely (and with no evidence), that the protesters were being paid. Senator John Cornyn declared, “We will not be bullied by the screams of paid protesters.” No, the protesters aren’t being paid to protest, let alone by George Soros. Conspiracy theorizing has been a part of American politics from the beginning. When people who hold most of the levers of power do the same thing, their fantasizing isn’t a delusion, it’s a tool: a way to delegitimize opposition, to create excuses not just for disregarding but for punishing anyone who dares to criticize their actions. And now senior figures in the Republican Party, which controls all three branches of the federal government — if you had any questions about whether the Supreme Court was a partisan institution, they should be gone now — are sounding just like the white nationalists in Hungary and Poland. is an authoritarian regime in waiting. The senators parroting conspiracy theories about Soros-paid protesters? What we’ve learned in the past few weeks is that there is no gap between Trump and his party, nobody who will say stop in the name of American values. is an authoritarian regime in waiting, not yet one in practice.

Christine Blasey Ford will air her allegation of sexual assault against Brett Kavanaugh, and Kavanaugh will defend himself, as the nation watches Thursday's extraordinary Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.