A compendium of the best reporting and commentary surrounding the pivotal 2024 elections in the United States. You won't find horse race coverage here, or the standard "both sides" BS that passes so often for political journalism. What you will find are links, with brief commentary, to work that I believe advances the conversation we should be having about America's – and the world's – future. Remember: Everything is at stake this year. (Unfortunately, some of the work I point to is behind paywalls.)
Yet as horrifying as all [those despotic vows are], another, less-garish scenario also potentially looms—and in some respects it might be a more plausible one. A second Trump presidency could unleash a kind of lower-profile, slow-burn authoritarianism, something that unfolds much more quietly and largely behind the scenes. In its targeting of internal enemies and its efforts to carry out revolutionary changes via far-right governance, it could end up being much less dramatic, visible, or splashy—but at the same time, extremely insidious, difficult to track, and very challenging to mobilize against.
This article delves into the possibility that a Trump administration would, rather than put tanks in the streets and disappear people, use his powers to endlessly harass opponents, and even loud skeptics, with investigations and other tactics. (More likely, a new Trump regime would do both.) It doesn't matter if targeted people are innocent of any crime when the federal government comes after them. Criminal-defense lawyers have made the valid point that almost everyone has violated some federal statute, given the volume, reach, and ambiguous nature of the laws. Being a target means their finances will be drained, their emotional health will be battered, and their daily existence – and their families' – will be shattered. Despots have almost all the advantages once they take power. I hope more journalists – and their bosses – at major news organizations recognize what this portends for them, too. Then they might do more to help save democracy.
When Donald Trump broke all the rules and held a campaign event at Arlington National Cemetery, the story broke down when the cemetery employee who tried to prevent the rule-breaking and who was physically assaulted declined to press charges. But of course she did. She knows Trump World rules. She’d be deluged with death threats, have unstable Trump extremists showing up at her home. It’s a given that when a civilian becomes part of a big national story, their life gets at least somewhat turned upside down. But until recently it wasn’t a given that their lives would be endangered or that they’d be menaced in their homes. Those are the rules in Trump World.
As Josh Marshall points out, Trump is already using his cult mastery to do some of what Sargent warns is coming. And many of the people that he and his mobs target are taking the safer, fear-driven path: doing what they can to stay out of the firing line. That this can happen is often testament to the rank cowardice, however understandable, or venality of public officials – people who swear oaths to uphold the law but ignore or encourage the mob. Trump world rules, indeed.
In interviews with more than two dozen GOP lawmakers this week, Republicans brushed off Trump’s allegation that Haitian immigrants are stealing and eating pets in Springfield, Ohio. They didn’t care that Trump’s claims during a presidential debate were, predictably, nottrue. They weren’t worried that, by blurting out “they’re eating the dogs,” he was elevating racist rumors — the most cited of which relies on a neighbor’s daughter’s friend — to the national stage.
To what degree is the Republican Party a cult? This article gives you a strong indication if you didn't already know. When a reporter, looking for Republican lawmakers willing to push back on the epic "eating pets" lie, can't find even one, she has exposed the immoral core of a party that has abandoned all honor. This is an example of excellent political reporting from a small outlet. We could use more from our major journalism organizations.
Musk...has used his influence and money to help Donald Trump return to the White House. His support for Trump marks a political shift that could have major ramifications in the presidential race. His covert effort in the local prosecutor’s race in Texas shows that his engagement in politics is broader than previously known.
Great reporting by the Journal on this barrel of sleaze. The money flowed in ways plainly designed to prevent voters from knowing who was behind the attacks on an elected prosecutor who was running his office exactly how he'd promised. Democratic voters saw through the deceitful campaign tactics, even if they didn't know who was behind them, and re-nominated the DA for another term. Broader context: Both major parties are gladly accepting dark money, but Republicans have a lot more of it, because there are a lot more right-wing, ultra-wealthy people who have personal, ideological, and financial axes to grind than on the left. So it's worth asking where else Musk and other billionaires are pumping dark money into the elections. The poisonous effects of the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, which opened the floodgates of unlimited money from unnamed sources in political campaigns, are clearer all the time.
Voting is just part of democracy, but it's the essential place to start. Make sure you're registered. Doublecheck in the fall, well before Election Day, because in some states Republican officials are removing people, mostly those who tend to vote for Democrats, from voting rolls.
Please send your suggestions
I spend a lot of time looking for essential coverage, and hope you'll help me by letting me know about the good stuff you find. Let me know.
Greg Sargent
Josh Marshall
Haley Byrd Wilt
