Anand Giridharadas (Wiki bio) was discussing how the Democrats needed to mount an effective movement to defeat MAGA. He lamented the fact that they have yet not done this.

His most recent book is ‘The Persuaders’ (which) examines the front line fight for hearts, minds and democracy’ (NPR Review).

It’s a short article worth reading. Here’s an excerpt:

INSKEEP: Would the left actually do better to change some of its program in order to have a broader coalition?

GIRIDHARADAS: That’s kind of what the Democratic Party has done for a very, very long time. The problem with this approach is that it doesn’t necessarily win over converts from the middle, and it certainly leaves your base cold. And what a lot of the persuaders I’m writing about – what they’re essentially suggesting is flipping this model on its head. They’re arguing for a version of persuasion from the left that is about standing bravely and committedly in your aspirations and your demands, fighting for a – an ambitious version of your values and, at the same time, reaching out through how you communicate it, how you sell it, the frames you’re willing to use – making a Christian case for environmental stewardship, you know, maybe naming something like Medicare for All Freedom Care to actually play into deeply held values that Americans across the political spectrum have.

Republicans in their attempt to turn the country into a fascisist autocracy. He didn’t see any such movement taking shape.

The topic of discussion on this segment on Morning Joe was whether was whether American institutions could survive another Trump presidency. That’s why I suggest that the chryon had the wrong word. Trump would subvert American institutions to do his will as a mechanism for destroying American democracy. Controlling the institutions from the DOJ to the media is a means to an end. The end is the destruction of American democracy and replacing it with a Trumpian dystopia.

To the actual question posed about whether democracy could survive another Trump presidency can only be answered with a yes and no, or by saying “it depends on what is meant by “survive”.

Whether he could actually do what Putin did by imprisoning co-founder of the Russian band Pussy Riot Nadya Tolokonnikova..

(read: Pussy Riot’s Nadya Just Gave a Master-Class on How to Live During the Trump Era)

…. by taking revenge on Taylor Swift for among other things making Time Magazine’s Person of the Year…

… while he makes the cover of The New Yorker in a decidely unfaltering drawing (below).

Read: How a Trump courtroom sketch became a milestone New Yorker cover which was the subject of a Washington Post article…

… he certainly would like to see Taylor Swift behind bars.