re: #1 Charles Johnson

it’s easier when it’s enabled, say by one house of Congress and a dysfunctional press/media

I think it never really dawned on me before how sloppy and stupid the rise of authoritarianism can be. It makes sense, of course. If brute force is the strategy, smarts aren’t essential. But to see it up close is to appreciate that I missed an important theme in history books.

— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) October 6, 2019