Comment by pmdulaney
5 months ago
It really helped me to listen to Eli Lake's Jan 22, 2025 podcast on Honestly having to do with American populism, especially that of our last populist president, Andrew Jackson.
The basic idea is that populism does not become the new norm (as per poster legitster) except for a period of maybe 8 - 10 years. Grassroots populism provides a corrective when the ruling elites have lost touch with the chief concerns of the people. Both the Democrats and the Republicans will tweak their platforms to incorporate some of these ideas, and having done their job, the populists will fade away. Before this wave of populism departs, there will probably be a bipartisan agreement that DEI programs have gotten out of control, that gender reassignment surgery for children is a bad idea, that the first amendment to the Constitution is a good thing and should be defended. (That last sentence, "Before this wave of populism departs..." reflects my speculation, not that of Eli Lake.)
Except this time around, the key players have a playbook and endless resources for codifying a monarchy of the executive: https://archive.is/iAtnM
Populism was just a way to get their foot in the door. The general public has been duped as to their intentions.
That is a credible counterview. We will definitely have to stay on our toes.