MICKEY KAUS: Andrew’s Landslide: The internal contradictions of Sullivanism.
Sullivan seems to entirely blame Trump for “tribalism” and “polarization,” which is why Trump needs to be expunged and cauterized etc.. Trump certainly hasn’t cured those problems — or even tried — but given the Democrats’ inability to come to terms with his 2016 victory, their immediate full-on opposition, their ongoing attempts to reverse the election’s result— plus the pre-Trump ascendance of Critical Race Theory (critqued most accessibly by Sullivan himself) and the eruption of Black Lives Matter protests (against police brutality, not Trump’s policies), it seems as if at least some percentage of the blame should fall on Democrats who’d feel vindicated by a landslide.
Indeed, a Dem landslide — or any Dem win at all — will encourage more of the deeply antisocial behavior we’ve seen over the past four years.
One other thought: People seem to think that if the Dems win, Trump will go away. But why should he? He can continue as a thorn in the side of the new administration, with a huge megaphone, deep pockets, and a large — and post-election, angry — following. Twitter will probably kick him off, but then he can start his own social media network, and possibly his own television network now that Fox is going wobbly. And Trump will be the center of attention, overshadowing the Harris/Biden administration almost from day one.
Meanwhile, read all of Mickey’s post. I love it when he writes long-form.