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One way to think about Trump's relationship to the history of the GOP is that he is the apotheosis of one of their long-standing mantras: Love America, hate the government that represents it. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bre…
Or, in the language of the domestic abuser, "I love you so much, and that is why I have to kill you."
But seriously, listen to that conversation between @chrislhayes and Michael Lewis. In one hour they encapsulate what to me is the fundamental nature of the risk the Trump Admin (and its GOP enablers) pose to public safety and the public good.
@chrislhayes The US gov't (and the bureaucratic institutions of which it is largely comprised) provide the largely invisible infrastructure that make modern life livable--that keeps our water clean, our airplanes from not crashing, our roads safe, our nuclear reactors from not melting down.
@chrislhayes None of that work is glamorous. We only become aware of it when it *doesn't* work. But as any school kid who's read The Jungle can tell you, without that work being done by someone, we're consigned to eating a whole lot of maggots with our meat.
@chrislhayes The right wing of the GOP has been gunning to dismantle those aspects of the federal government for decades now, because business people prefer a world where they police themselves. Again, The Jungle, remember The Jungle.
@chrislhayes Or just remember when the Cuyhoga river *caught on fire* in the late 60s and early 70s, before we had an EPA. It caught on fire because it was more profitable for industries to dump their waste into the river than dispose of it. It's not rocket science.
@chrislhayes The key thing to know about Trump is that he simply has zero interest in anything positive that the government does to protect ordinary citizens or further the creation of a more fair society. All such efforts (like anti-discrimination housing law) are just a nuisance to him.
@chrislhayes This is the way almost all of the ppl in his orbit think about the government. They either want to use it to make money, or hamstring it so it doesn't get in the way of their making money. This is what emerges in this conversation and Lewis's great book. indiebound.org/book/978132400…
@chrislhayes Here's an earlier thread where I talked about the GOP's anti-government rhetoric and how out of step it is with most Americans' lived experiences, yet how much such sentiments benefit the wealthy & powerful.
@chrislhayes And if you haven't read The Fifth Risk, I highly recommend it. Here's just one of the many amazing/jaw-dropping stories he tells. This is impeachment-level malfeasance & corruption, just this single story.
