Thomas Zimmer

kind of really assisted the Trumpists in kind of bringing the machinery in line, I'm not saying Biden should completely sabotage the transition. That's not the position, right? You have to worry about state capacity and you have to worry to some extent about norms and precedents. Fine. But why do you need to do a photo op with the first lady on the premises of the White House?

kind of really assisted the Trumpists in kind of bringing the machinery in line, I'm not saying Biden should completely sabotage the transition. That's not the position, right? You have to worry about state capacity and you have to worry to some extent about norms and precedents. Fine. But why do you need to do a photo op with the first lady on the premises of the White House?

kind of really assisted the Trumpists in kind of bringing the machinery in line, I'm not saying Biden should completely sabotage the transition. That's not the position, right? You have to worry about state capacity and you have to worry to some extent about norms and precedents. Fine. But why do you need to do a photo op with the first lady on the premises of the White House?

This sort of signals normalcy to people, right? It signals to people it can't be that bad. If Trump really was, I don't know, a fascist, whatever, or like a fundamental acute threat to American democracy, Joe Biden and Jill Biden wouldn't be doing that, would they? So this is signaling normalcy. It signals a kind of accommodation to power, a kind of acquiescence.

This sort of signals normalcy to people, right? It signals to people it can't be that bad. If Trump really was, I don't know, a fascist, whatever, or like a fundamental acute threat to American democracy, Joe Biden and Jill Biden wouldn't be doing that, would they? So this is signaling normalcy. It signals a kind of accommodation to power, a kind of acquiescence.

This sort of signals normalcy to people, right? It signals to people it can't be that bad. If Trump really was, I don't know, a fascist, whatever, or like a fundamental acute threat to American democracy, Joe Biden and Jill Biden wouldn't be doing that, would they? So this is signaling normalcy. It signals a kind of accommodation to power, a kind of acquiescence.

And the best example, honestly, is the way the kind of Musk-Ramazwami joint, the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, has been treated, where you have sort of Democratic governors go on Fox News to say, oh, this is really interesting. We really need to do something about government waste or whatever, as if this was kind of a good faith effort at government reform. Come on.

And the best example, honestly, is the way the kind of Musk-Ramazwami joint, the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, has been treated, where you have sort of Democratic governors go on Fox News to say, oh, this is really interesting. We really need to do something about government waste or whatever, as if this was kind of a good faith effort at government reform. Come on.

And the best example, honestly, is the way the kind of Musk-Ramazwami joint, the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, has been treated, where you have sort of Democratic governors go on Fox News to say, oh, this is really interesting. We really need to do something about government waste or whatever, as if this was kind of a good faith effort at government reform. Come on.

It's not, right? It's not.

It's not, right? It's not.

It's not, right? It's not.

Yes. Or you have Bernie Sanders, just a few days ago, praising Musk for supposedly pushing back against the military industrial complex. What are we doing here? This is the kind of legitimization and normalization of these people that we... No, we shouldn't do this. We should be very clear that this is not a department, first of all. It has no legal or constitutional authority.

Yes. Or you have Bernie Sanders, just a few days ago, praising Musk for supposedly pushing back against the military industrial complex. What are we doing here? This is the kind of legitimization and normalization of these people that we... No, we shouldn't do this. We should be very clear that this is not a department, first of all. It has no legal or constitutional authority.

Yes. Or you have Bernie Sanders, just a few days ago, praising Musk for supposedly pushing back against the military industrial complex. What are we doing here? This is the kind of legitimization and normalization of these people that we... No, we shouldn't do this. We should be very clear that this is not a department, first of all. It has no legal or constitutional authority.

And these people are not good faith actors actually concerned about, you know, government efficiency. So we shouldn't be sort of normalizing it in that way because we will at some point, right? I believe things could get potentially really bad in the Trump, in the second Trump administration. And at that point, we will need people, the American public to actually not look at Trump as,

And these people are not good faith actors actually concerned about, you know, government efficiency. So we shouldn't be sort of normalizing it in that way because we will at some point, right? I believe things could get potentially really bad in the Trump, in the second Trump administration. And at that point, we will need people, the American public to actually not look at Trump as,

And these people are not good faith actors actually concerned about, you know, government efficiency. So we shouldn't be sort of normalizing it in that way because we will at some point, right? I believe things could get potentially really bad in the Trump, in the second Trump administration. And at that point, we will need people, the American public to actually not look at Trump as,

as a totally normal president, a totally normal administration. But we will need them to be clear about, no, these are dangerous, fundamentally anti-democratic forces that are in charge of American government right now. And we need to think clearly and grapple seriously with how do you deal with that?

as a totally normal president, a totally normal administration. But we will need them to be clear about, no, these are dangerous, fundamentally anti-democratic forces that are in charge of American government right now. And we need to think clearly and grapple seriously with how do you deal with that?