Malice Aforethought

I congratulate John Ganz for what is probably the best meditation on the Trump regime so far [“From the F-Word to the T-Word,” October 2025]. Denouncing “isms” is a trap. Accusing people with whom you disagree of being infected with an enemy ideology implies that a purge of minds, and perhaps bodies, is necessary. Ganz points to this dynamic but finds it “hollow,” when it is actually programmatic. This is exactly the threat that Trump and his supporters use to drive people into his followership. “Woke” is not an insult; it is an accusation of fanaticism. The “isms” are also easily defused. Trump can get enough minority and women followers to prove that his camp is not so prejudiced as his critics frantically insist it must be.

In Kings or People, Reinhard Bendix wrote, “Arbitrariness is an instrument of rule, for it provides the ruler with an effective test of instant obedience…. A dictatorial regime cannot achieve stability, because to do so would require it to refrain from being arbitrary.” Trump’s clownish gloss may provide shlock entertainment, but the core of his project is well-executed malice. Our opposition should be focused on the autocracy we see rising before us, not just here but across the globe.

If we can get past the futile name-calling, we can focus on anticipating the next move. Is it not clear that the troops in the streets are intended to block voting and ballot-counting in 2028?

Scott Corey
quincy, ca
 

Sheep Throat

Current Issue

July/August 2026 Issue

Re “Encased in Amber” [Fall Books, October 2025]: Kudos to Matthew Duss for opening his review of the new book War with Joan Didion’s sweet takedown of one of the US government’s master politicians, operators, climbers, stenographers, and public relations gurus. A picture of the book’s author, Bob Woodward, hangs in my personal Journalism Hall of Shame, next to that of Judith Miller.

Gene Roman
bronx, ny
 

Standing Room Only

In his article on the state of US train travel, Julian Epp notes the lack of seating in New York’s Moynihan Train Hall [“End of the Line?,” September 2025]. From what I understand, this was an intentional design choice to discourage the presence of homeless people.

Ann Rae Jonas
new york, ny
 

Correction

“Starting Over in Mexico,” by Rebekah Sager [December 2025], incorrectly stated that the US Refugee Admissions Program focused on rescuing victims of sexual exploitation. Rather, prevention in this area was the focus of the former USRAP worker who was interviewed for the article following Donald Trump’s executive order suspending the federal program, not the focus of the program itself.