If you’re not a TPM subscriber, you can now sign up for the free version of my newsletter The Backchannel right here.

In response to the Waco Trump rally, TPM Reader MD, an Alabaman, wrote in to flag a note he’d sent in 18+ months ago. “I’m so glad to see your ed blog calling for more focus on the right-wing radicalism of the Trump campaign — not being desensitized to it. Last year I sent in the note below on the absolute shock I had — even for Trump — going into a tiny town with an outsized reputation for radical violence and intimidation. “

Here’s the email from August 3rd, 2021 …

From TPM Reader JO …

I appreciated your post yesterday about the increasingly close connection between the modern GOP and the growth of right wing radicalism and domestic terrorism over the decades since the Waco tragedies (and going back slightly earlier to the Ruby Ridge standoff — though I guess a campaign rally there would have been a bit too transparent even for Trump). The line from Waco to OKC to the Bundys to January 6 is clear and frightening — and your attention to it is why I’ve been following TPM from the start.

The Supreme Court, you’ll know from TPM, is currently considering a case in which Republican legislators from North Carolina argue that they, and no one else, have absolute authority over that state’s federal elections. The state courts don’t, the state governor doesn’t. Only the legislators do, they claim.

For this reason, the legislators argue, they can go ahead and gerrymander to their hearts’ content.

Donald Trump breaks through so many boundaries and norms it’s easy to get desensitized. Even though there was some press notice of it, we need a lot more attention on the fact that Trump held his campaign kick off in Waco, Texas on the thirtieth anniversary of the Branch Davidian standoff. Not only is it a gruesome and hideous anniversary to commemorate politically, it also became a core anniversary around which violent far-right radicalism congealed and intensified. That happened right off the bat. The fiery end of the standoff provided the inspiration and chosen date for the bombing attack on the Oklahoma City federal building two years later. It is the germination point for all manner of right-wing terrorism since and Trump underlined the point by using his kickoff event to celebrate and honor individuals who followed his orders and stormed Capitol Hill on Jan. 6, 2021, with the intent of overthrowing the lawful government of the United States.

I note this because right-wing radicalism and domestic terrorism will increasingly be a focus of ours in the months and years to come. It has always been a focus, going back to the beginning of the site over 20 years ago. But the unfortunate fact is that these themes have moved more and more to the center of American public life.

Judge rules that Vice President Pence must testify before the grand jury about events leading up to the Jan. 6th insurrection on Capitol Hill.

Do you hear that? It’s the sound of House Republicans trying to get President Biden to pay attention to their threats to throw the country into default and engage in a new round of debt-ceiling hostage taking.

It’s a dramatically different reality than the one we had the last time there was a Democratic President in the Oval Office.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis may not have announced his intent to run for president, but he’s already got some thoughts about what he’d do in the White House. Among them is a plan to decimate the civil service. And it may look familiar.

Since I wrote this morning’s post there have been a number of new developments in Israel.

For my thoughts on the unfolding crisis in Israel, see my post from earlier today. This is a short post with some pointers on finding good news coverage.