Terry McDermott
@tmcdermott.bsky.social
Writer, native Iowan, author of books on baseball, terrorism and the brain, veteran of too many newspapers. https://tmcdermott.com
Reposted by Terry McDermott
It's useful to think of fascism as a form of "participatory anti-democracy." It's a populist movement that gets ordinary people fired up about being part of a world-historic movement that uses state power to punish perceived enemies & impose total order over perceived chaos. bsky.app/profile/seth...
Modern right wing "vice signaling," IMO, is a social-media-era iteration of a political tradition historian Joseph Fronczak has called "participatory anti-democracy." I like that term because it captures the pleasure people feel when they participate in illiberal and expulsive political movements.
I used to think of vice signaling as a minor point about political communication. now I wonder if we need to develop it as a core aspect of political theory, at least as far as the Americas are concerned
August 21, 2025 at 3:24 PM
It's useful to think of fascism as a form of "participatory anti-democracy." It's a populist movement that gets ordinary people fired up about being part of a world-historic movement that uses state power to punish perceived enemies & impose total order over perceived chaos. bsky.app/profile/seth...
He pitched in an exhibition in Cascade, Iowa that isn't on the map. Will email more info. The park, called Legion Field, is still in use.
July 17, 2025 at 7:00 PM
He pitched in an exhibition in Cascade, Iowa that isn't on the map. Will email more info. The park, called Legion Field, is still in use.
Thanks. He was a character.
June 15, 2025 at 8:13 PM
Thanks. He was a character.
"I said he embraced difficult solutions. I did not say they were effective. Or sane."
June 15, 2025 at 2:59 PM
"I said he embraced difficult solutions. I did not say they were effective. Or sane."
"We sometimes trimmed our evergreen hedge at home by lifting a power lawn mower and walking the length of it, my father on one side, me on the other, while the mower roared and chopped, sending remnants of the hedge in every direction.
June 15, 2025 at 2:59 PM
"We sometimes trimmed our evergreen hedge at home by lifting a power lawn mower and walking the length of it, my father on one side, me on the other, while the mower roared and chopped, sending remnants of the hedge in every direction.
"Part of Mac’s genius was a willingness to turn useless human beings into tools.
June 15, 2025 at 2:59 PM
"Part of Mac’s genius was a willingness to turn useless human beings into tools.
"As if it were the most natural thing in the world, he lit the trash in the can on fire and sautéed the pork on its lid. The dog sat beside him, his tail beating the ground with excitement at having found a human who understood how the world ought to work.
June 15, 2025 at 2:59 PM
"As if it were the most natural thing in the world, he lit the trash in the can on fire and sautéed the pork on its lid. The dog sat beside him, his tail beating the ground with excitement at having found a human who understood how the world ought to work.
"Once, I walked into the back yard and found him frying pork chops on the lid of garbage can. What the hell? I said. He explained that the chops were freezer-burned and the dog had to be fed and he didn’t want to give him raw meat.
June 15, 2025 at 2:59 PM
"Once, I walked into the back yard and found him frying pork chops on the lid of garbage can. What the hell? I said. He explained that the chops were freezer-burned and the dog had to be fed and he didn’t want to give him raw meat.
Can't wait to read it.
May 31, 2025 at 10:23 PM
Can't wait to read it.
Lisa - regarding that fortune: tmcdermott.com/food/the-sag...
The Sage of Fortune Cookies - Dispatches from the Word Factory
The Sage of Fortune Cookies The Sage of Fortune Cookies Nov. 4, 2000 COLUMN ONE The Sage of Fortune Cookies * A quest to discover why the ubiquitous little messages so rarely predict the future anymor...
tmcdermott.com
May 31, 2025 at 4:54 PM
Lisa - regarding that fortune: tmcdermott.com/food/the-sag...