. In the words of the man who literally wrote the book on Nixon, Rick Perlstein author of Nixonland, Trump surpasses Nixon in all the wrong ways. In an interview with Chris Hayes,Perlstein compared the similarities and differences of the two men.
“That bottomless pit of need. That absence where a soul should be that has to be filled with domination and control, it absolutely is Nixoninan, but with Trump you could kinda turn it up to eleven.”
If Nixon and Trump differ, it is in Nixon’s calculated shrewdness and secrecy. Trump of course, wears Twitter on his sleeve, where a heart would be.
In a fascinating interview, Perlstein described the multiple ways in which Nixon used the agencies and powers available to the office of president to punish his ‘enemies’ and keep tabs on other Americans for his own peculiar reasons.
While it’s all very entertaining, the tale becomes chilling when you realize the same powers will soon be at Trump’s disposal – and more.If Nixon could get even with dissenters, Trump can render them speechless. .But what may keep us all up at night, is ‘turn key totalitarianism.’ Born of fear in the Bush administration, can the grudge carrier in chief be trusted to use it wisely?