(Editor’s Note: If you do nothing else today, listen to the opening interview with Yale historian Timothy Snyder about the actual degree of risk we are at. When we tell ourselves that a totalitarian regime can never happen here we are, Snyder warns, ignoring history. We are not as exceptional to the reality of history as we like to think. Please, listen to this fascinating interview and then take action. – Mark L. Taylor)
Once you concede on abuse of the first group you have lost everything.
Open Source
WBUR (2/16/17)
Should Donald Trump have spelled it out that what he really had in mind for Washington was regime-change? The darkest truth about the squalling Trump administration is that nobody knows what’s happening.
Old-time news guy Dan Rather says it’s worse than Watergate. Mr. Putin has almost certainly has lost his dream of a grand bargain, but he’s won perhaps a larger goal in making the US government look like a joke.
The best reporters say the real theme in the capital is chaos—authoritarian intent veering toward anarchy, inside the White House and out. The historically minded say the uncertainty and the stakes are without precedent in this Republic.
Timothy Snyder—eminent historian of the bloody conflicts in Europe—sees authoritarianism rising through the American fog. “The moment you say it couldn’t happen here,” Snyder warns, “is the moment you are ignoring history. And you’re taking a huge risk.”
Other Guests: Sally Quinn gives us the inside scoop on Washington’s chattering class, fearing something they’ve never seen before. Michael Glennon, the man who previously warned us about the perils of double government, tells us what happens when the Deep State strikes back. Heather Cox Richardson gives us the historian’s take of Steve Bannon’s worldview.