The onslaught of awfulness, interspersed with small victories, is the playbook for normalizing all forms of authoritarianism. "They create the sense that there is more air to breathe and more room to act than there was yesterday." Yesterday, yes, but far less than less than we have the right to.
yes your description of the past 4 months with “unremitting series of shocks” nailed it for me. battling exhaustion in the face of my seeming inability to turn away from the train wreck yet desperate to feel effective + hold joy….
Watching from South Africa I fear that the anti-Fascist forces are going to struggle. The USA does not have a strong tradition of broad-based protest, nor a strong trade union movement. On top of this there is a lack of leadership. The DemocraticParty has not held a summit of its elected officials.
Hi Masha, Unfortunately NYTimes does not allow me to read your article😶. I had thought that Bluesky would not have these dark clouds obscuring the light. I'll have to go into Falmouth Public Library, I guess. Thanks for all your excellent work! Keep it up!!!!!🥰
Thank you for the reminder. Living in Canada as a citizen born and raised there, I am only partially shielded from the consequences of the Putin and Trump regimes at this point. I worry that I normalize far too much already, despite my intent to remain Canadian.
You must be kidding me. “Even Israel’s massacre in Gaza, which makes Russia’s warfare in Ukraine look restrained…”
WTF is wrong with you? You’re really going to downplay Mariupol and Bucha and the million other things Russia is doing that have no equal for a quick Israel insult?
I very much value your journalism. I am a lifelong progressive and have held my country’s feet to the fire for 60 years. The outcry we hear now, all over the country, is not negligible. It may be geographically scattered, but it is deep, loud and surprisingly well informed. Civics 101.
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Unfortunately I could only read a few paragraphs and then it asks me to subscribe or be damned.
WTF is wrong with you? You’re really going to downplay Mariupol and Bucha and the million other things Russia is doing that have no equal for a quick Israel insult?
JFC. “RESTRAINED?”
American citizens debate if autocracy can happen here. Gessen reminds us that we’ve already acclimated to it.
Hands down, Gessen’s insights are the only reason I still subscribe to the Times.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/28/opinion/trump-danger-normalization-shock.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Kk8.LTHB.hmQfGlPlihZC&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare