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  "path": "/26/04/the-self-defeating-both-sidesism-of-the-us-press",
  "publishedAt": "2026-04-27T22:20:00.000Z",
  "site": "https://kottke.org",
  "tags": [
    "Greg Sargent writing for The New Republic",
    "naked intimidation of large swaths",
    "would like it if there were",
    "Republican Extremism and the Myth of “Both Sides” in American Politics",
    "Greg Sargent",
    "journalism",
    "politics",
    "usa"
  ],
  "textContent": "Greg Sargent writing for The New Republic:\n\n> There’s no clean way to hive off terms like _fascism_ or _authoritarianism_ from Trump’s policies. Even if you disagree that the words apply, their use is backed up by a genuine attempt at intellectual justification for it. The use of these terms _just is_ deeply linked to assessments of Trump’s actual policies, from the lawless renditions to foreign gulags to the unleashing of heavily armed militias in American cities to the naked intimidation of large swaths of civil society.\n>\n> By contrast, when Trump and MAGA media figures call Democrats “Communists” or “antifa,” all of that is _entirely_ disconnected from _any_ policy realities. Many press figures would like it if there were an Archimedean midpoint between the two parties on all these matters. But there isn’t. At the most basic level, one party continues to function as an actor in a liberal democracy, whereas Trump and much of his movement, with the eager participation of many Republicans, simply do not. Dispensing with harsh but accurate descriptions of his real goals would whitewash them.\n\nSee also Republican Extremism and the Myth of “Both Sides” in American Politics.\n\n**Tags:** Greg Sargent · journalism · politics · usa",
  "title": "The Self-Defeating Both-Sidesism of the US Press",
  "updatedAt": "2026-04-27T22:20:00.000Z"
}