“Trump, for instance, has been president-elect for all of two weeks yet has already unspooled more “creative” ideas on how to consolidate power than most presidents manage in four years. Forget his Cabinet of anti-qualified quacks: There’s talk of him deploying the troops to enforce immigration law, forcing Congress to adjourn so that he can recess-appoint any loyalist stooge he likes, and purging military officers who lack “leadership qualities” because they prioritize obedience to the Constitution over obedience to him. Those who voted on November 5 for cheaper eggs and a stronger border will soon find most of America’s political energy consumed by battles over just how much of a dictator Donald J. Trump should get to be.”

“Throughout the war, American populists have assigned moral culpability for escalation exclusively to Ukraine and its Western supporters for resisting Russian fascism and not at all to the Russian fascists who chose to brutalize their neighbors in the first place. Yet, as perverse as that may be, there’s strategic logic to it. Postliberals in the U.S. want to normalize ruthlessness toward liberals and part of the normalization process is muddying the moral waters whenever postliberal regimes abroad behave ruthlessly.”