This is a different kind of episode than is typical; there's no book, no central text, not even a single, central event that guides the conversation. Instead, we begin with a few recent news items—speculation about Trump 2028, Speaker Mike Johnson's refusal to swear in a Democratic congresswoman, the stunning abdication of Congress as the shutdown continues, and, incredibly, a secretive billionaire and Mellon heir donates over a hundred million dollars to pay the military, among others—and then lay out our profound worries about Trump ruling by decree, and the coming of MAGA-style Caeserism. How and when might that occur? We discuss troubling signals the Trump administration is sending about upcoming elections, and especially the 2026 midterms; the ticking time bomb that is the Insurrection Act; how the right thinks about executive power (then and now), and more.
Sources:
Peter Rothpletz, "Trump's Third Term?" Zeteo/First Draft, Oct 24, 2025
Dana Milbank, "How Reactionary is MAGA? Try the First Century B.C.," Washington Post, Sept 7, 2022
Steve Bannon interview with The Economist, Oct 23, 2025 (YouTube)
Shawn Hubler & Laurel Rosenhall, "Justice Department Will Monitor Elections in California and New Jersey," New York Times, Oct 24, 2025
Steve Contorno & Ashley Killough, "Frustrated Arizonans Have Waited More Than a Month for Their New Congresswoman to be Seated," CNN, Oct 25, 2025
Yoni Applebaum, "America's Fragile Constitution," The Atlantic, Oct 2015
Abraham Lincoln, "Speech to the Young Men’s Lyceum of Springfield," Jan 27, 1838
Bob Bauer & Jack Goldsmith, "Here’s What Trump Could Unleash by Invoking the Insurrection Act," New York Times, Oct 18, 2025
Damon Linker, "The Surest Path to Dictatorship: A Quick Plug for a Short Primer about the Insurrection Act," Notes from the Middleground, Oct 18, 2025
"Discussing Caesarism," New Founding Podcast, Oct 21, 2022.
Harvey Mansfield, Taming the Prince: The Ambivalence of Modern Executive Power (1989)
James Burnham, Congress and the American Tradition (1959)
Garry Wills, Bomb Power: The Modern Presidency and the National Security State (2010)
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