Our quote of the Day comes from The Bulwark Newsletter:
Donald Trump has dominated American politics for almost a decade. Thrice the Republican nominee for president, twice the victor in general elections, currently the undisputed master of a political party which will now control both the Senate and the House—Trump is the most consequential American politician of the 21st century.
And he’s only just begun.
For what we are about to see is something new. Not just Trump rising but Trump ascendant. And not just Trump ascendant but Trump triumphant. And not just Trump triumphant but Trumpism Trumpism.
That’s the reality of 2025.
[…]Still, we face an unprecedented moment. January 20, 2025 will mark the beginning of something new in America: An utterly shameless demagogue at the head of an authoritarian movement in control of the executive branch and to a considerable degree Congress, with a massive media infrastructure behind him, oligarchs supporting him, and with a demoralized opposition trying to prop up unsteady guardrails.
[…]Today we’ll watch as the 119th Congress convenes, and its members take the oath of office. In just over two weeks, we’ll watch Trump be inaugurated as president. The civic forms will be familiar.
But we will in fact face a new reality. To rise to the occasion, we will have to think anew, and act anew.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.