Connecting the dots: Trump's attack on knowledge, and the passive citizens and legislators who won't do anything to stop it.
Preliminary draft
BACKGROUND.
1)Adam Serwer, “The newvDark Age; The Trump administration has launched an attack on knowledge itself, The Atlantic, May 27, 2025 (6:39;am ET)
Adam Serwer of the Atlantic has connected the dots, providing a comprehensive overview of the many disparate actions by the Trump administration which, taken together, constitute ana all-out assault on knowledge itself.
Trump will certainly be remembered as the country’s greatest “know-nothing” president. surpassing by far the “know-nothings” who have appeared previously in American history.
While these actions attacking knowledge are extremely alarming, what is even more alarming is the utter passivity of citizens and legislators in trying to do anything to stop them.
Republican legislators have been completely passive in the face of Trump’s outrages. But even the most vociferous Democratic critics of Trump in Congress have taken few steps to stop Trump by using their most powerful weapon: the power to launch an informal impeachment investigation of Trump and then when they have the votes to launch a formal investigation and then to impeach him.
Democrats need to develop a broad narrative of '“high crimes and misdemeanors” by this president, and then constantly repeat the narrative and update it as each new outrage is committed.
The overarching theme might be “the rule of law”.
In the Senate they could launch an informal investigation now and then push for a trial on the impeachment charges whenever they receive them from the House, and use a long trial to review and bring to the American people’s attention the many illegal and unconstitutional actions Trump has taken. These bear repetition.And repetition. And more repetition.
To be sure, in the House they don’t have the votes to force a vote on launching an impeachment investigation. But nothing is stopping them from carrying out and publicizing a similar, informal investigation. This approach would help build pressure for a vote to launch a formal investigation.
Where votes are today is not necessarily where they will be tomorrow.
Moreover, connecting the dots in this manner would keep the idea of impeachment in everyone’s mind, while highlighting the “high crimes and misdemeanors” that would justify impeachment, an impeachment trial, conviction in the Senate, and Trump’s removal from office.
Up until now, the Democrats have been content to bring and applaud lawsuits challenging Trump’s illegal actions. That process, while urgent and important, will take too long to have a decisive impact on public opinion, as we learned in 2023 and 2024 with the indictments against Trump.
A second thing Democrats might do is to begin to campaign against Republican members of the House who may be vulnerable in the 2026 elections. They can start building the case against the Republican incumbent or future candidate, even if their identity is unknown. Potential Democratic candidates could agree on the general lines of attack against the future Republican candidate, and agree to not attack each other for attacking Trump.
The time to shape public opinion is now, not after the formal Congressional campaign has begun.
The Democrats and citizens need to get on a war footing, try everything they can, and stop telling themselves that bold actions, like impeachment, could never work.
Considering what Trump has done in only four months, it is imperative that Democrats prepare now, as suggested above, for his impeachment and removal from office.
***
About the Author
James Rowles is a former Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School and professor of international law at other universities.
He studied the history of Nazi Germany at Stanford, and has studied and worked on human rights, judicial reform, and access to justice projects in many countries in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and in Afghanistan and Russia. At Harvard Law School, he taught a course on “Law, Human Rights, and the Struggle for Democracy in Latin America”.
At the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) of the OAS, he worked on human rights cases involving forced disappearances, executions, and torture in a number of authoritarian countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Recent Books by the Author
James P. Rowles, The Rape of American Democracy: Republican Actions and Democratic Failures, 2016-2021 (2024). Available on Amazon, and from IngramSpark by clicking on a link here.
James P. Rowles, Don’t Be Stupid. Pay Attention, Damn It! Advice for Undecided Voters and Voters Leaning Toward Trump (2024). Available on Amazon,and from IngramSpark by clicking on a link here.
Support the newsletter and the Author
We encourage you to join the community that supports the Trenchant Observations newsletter and the author’s books.
You may sign up for a free subscription to the newsletter. But to receive all of the content as soon as it is published and to support the newsletter, please upgrade to a Paid or Founding Member subscription. To do so, click on the “Subscribe now” button below.
You may also make a contribution to help support the author and his books directly by sending a Zelle or a wire transfer. For further details, please contact the author at jrowles93@gmail.com.
Alternatively, you may respond to the author’s Go Fund Me appeal by clicking on the last button below. The funds take one-two weeks to get to his bank account, and are subject to a fee (2.9% plus $0.30).
There is a new title for the GoFundMe appeal —”Restore American Democracy Fund - Support Engaged Writers”.
I am uploading a revised description of this appeal, GoFundMe will pause this appeal while the compliance team reviews its content, It may take a couple days for the compliance team (humans) to “unpause” the appeal so that it can again accept donations. In the meantime, you may make a contribution by Zelle as explained above.
We greatly appreciate the donations of those who halve already contributed.
Finally, in addition to subscriptions and contributions, you can buy the books listed above, read them, and send me your comments and reactions.
Trenchant Observations is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, please consider becoming a paid subscriber.
Trenchant Observations is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a paid subscriber.