Michael Weiss and Thomas Zimmer: Competent and Radical
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What challenges did the podcast face during recording?
Hey guys, we had a few technical and logistical difficulties on this show, but the show ends up turning out great. I think you're going to love it. You're going to learn a lot. We've got two very smart guests. As I mentioned yesterday, we were going to have Mark Hertling on to talk foreign policy, but we had a scheduling snafu, so we switched that out. He'll be on again soon. And we've got Michael Weiss on to talk about foreign policy. And then we added to that Thomas Zimmer, who is a historian who looks at democracy around the world. And he wrote this great post on Substack about Russell Vogt and kind of about the evolution of right-wing thought towards this more post-constitutional moment and why that is particularly scary and how that's evolved from the Tea Party days. Both guys are super smart. Then as a bonus, on top of that, on top of the scheduling snafu, the power went out here in New Orleans during the pandemic.
podcast at one point. We have very, very strong, the best infrastructure here in these red states. You take the good with the bad when you go to New Orleans. So you might hear a little difference in the audio quality between this and the interview. And then after the power goes out, the audio might change again. So Apologies. We did the best we could. The content, though, the content is A+. So stick around for the content and appreciate you. We'll be seeing you on the other side with Thomas Zimmer. Hello and welcome to the Bullard Podcast. I'm your host, Tim Miller. I'm delighted to be here today with a new guest, visiting professor at Georgetown. He teaches 20th century U.S. and international history with a focus on transatlantic history of democracy and its discontents.
We have many discontents right now. He writes Democracy Americana on Substack and the co-host of a podcast, Is This Democracy? It's Thomas Zimmer. How are you doing, man? Welcome to the pod.
I'm doing well. Thank you so much for having me.
Who are Michael Weiss and Thomas Zimmer?
As people might notice, you're German. Yes. That is not a Kansas accent. So I welcome you to our great country, land of the free, and our late constitutional republic. Welcome.
As of yet, still, I guess, right?
Still barely. Hanging on by a thread. I had reached out because you wrote a piece for your substack about Russ Vogt called Meet the Ideologue of the Post-Constitutional Right. Right. And in it, you had an insight that I think some people, particularly on the left, miss. It's kind of like this distinction of kind of this evolution of the right and the change of how they kind of see the world now versus maybe how the Tea Party right did or how, you know, the religious right may have in the 80s. So I kind of want to talk about that in an academic way. But first, you're also going to go into Vogt's background. So for people who aren't familiar with him, let's talk about Russ Vogt, this super nerd, and why... Well, you might not think that the office and management of budget director would be the person to be most concerned about, but you make a strong case for it. So talk to us about vote.
Yeah, I mean, in many ways, I think he's had a fairly normal, if you want to call that, career path as sort of a career operative. He had positions at almost every level inside and around the Republican Party in Washington, D.C. over the course of almost two decades. I think he's in his late 40s now, I believe. And he went from low-level staffer to high-level... person who is pulling the strings in the background. He was a congressional aide, a part of the think tank and the lobbying machine, a campaigner, and then a member of the Trump administration. I think in terms of where he comes from, people used to see him as a fiscal hawk, that sort Small government conservative who's looking for ways to, you know, cut the budget and maybe cut departments or whatever.
Cut red tape. Yeah, singing my language.
Yeah, no, absolutely. So that's what he was known for. And then to me, he's interesting because he is, I think... very much emblematic of the trajectory of these kinds of people who very much talked about themselves as small government conservatives to people who now whatever you want to call him now that's not what he's talking about now he now wants to mobilize government and use of the coercive powers of government to impose a certain vision on american society these are the same kinds of circles who when barack obama was thinking about using an executive order called him a tyrant and now
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What challenges did the podcast face during recording?
0:00–1:56
2
Who are Michael Weiss and Thomas Zimmer?
1:56–6:07
3
What is Russell Vought's role in the post-constitutional right?
6:07–10:14
4
How has the Republican Party's ideology evolved?
10:14–16:36
5
What is radical constitutionalism?
16:36–20:32
6
How does Russell Vought plan to reshape government agencies?
20:32–39:51
7
What are the implications of Vought's policies for the FBI?
39:51–53:39
8
How is the Democratic establishment responding to Trump's rise?
53:39–1:04:50
Speakers
4 identifiedMore from The Bulwark Daily
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