Member-only story
Why Trump Can’t Be Ignored & Must Be Held Accountable
Violent behavior on airplanes has reached such epidemic proportions that the President of Delta Airlines last week asked the Department of Homeland security to allow the airlines to submit passengers who have terrified or otherwise abused flight crews for placement on the government’s no-fly list.
This is a symptom of the much deeper problem: Donald Trump has planted authoritarianism across America like some kind of bizarre Johnny Appleseed, and only his humiliation and conviction will pull it out by the roots.
Eight Republican senators have now come forward to defend the air-crew abusers, as astonishing as that may seem. In doing so, they’re making common cause with thousands of authoritarian followers who’ve adopted Donald Trump as their behavioral role model.
Why would eight GOP senators support abusers on airplanes? Because these senators also view Trump as their own personal role model and believe they draw power, prestige and safety from their association with him. They, like the people abusing flight crews, are authoritarian followers.
This explosion of “air rage” is a symptom of a much larger problem in contemporary America, one we may be on the edge of resolving.
A June, 2021 Morning Consult poll found that about 26 percent of Americans now…
