What's at stake in the next four years
Avoid the media distractions. Focus on collective responses to Trump.
President-elect Donald Trump has shown himself highly skilled at using social media to keep the nation talking about himself, with little regard for how many people he offends, norms he violates, or untruths he disseminates. He has used his Twitter account to lash out at the cast of Hamilton for daring to advise him, and he has declared (with no basis in fact) that millions of Clinton votes were counted fraudulently.
The danger for critics who respond to Trump tweet by tweet is that they become so consumed with taking offense that they lose focus on more substantive issues and lose the energy to engage in more helpful forms of response over the long haul. In her 1967 essay “Truth and Politics,” Hannah Arendt asked, “Is not impotent truth just as despicable as power that gives no heed to truth?” The question of the moment is how to make truth potent.
Potent responses to the issues of governance likely to be raised in the months ahead include:
