ultimately i think the central thesis of trumpism might be true nihilism, just the absolute disdain for the idea that anything matters at all beyond winning an argument in the eyes of your supporters. there is no such thing as competence. there is only loyalty and occasionally bad press. that’s it

my line on identity politics *in general* is that not everybody is built for / up for / positioned for all of the various political work that should be done, including who people are willing to work with (or "coddle"), and one of the best aspects of identity politics is that this is fine actually