When Politics Becomes Spectacle. Essay Coming Tomorrow

Welcome back to Lucid and hello to all new subscribers. Mark your calendars for our regular Friday Q&A on Jan. 20, 1-2pmET. Terrell Jermaine Starr has a conflict and will join us instead on Jan. 27. We may have another guest, or it will just be us.

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I’m writing to tell you that the essay will publish tomorrow. In deciding what to write about, I try and listen to my instincts and if something is bothering me it usually merits further investigation. Ever since I saw that clip of Sean Hannity of Fox News broadcasting from the Capitol, I have had a queasy feeling. My immediate reaction to it went viral (you can see the tweet and the clip here) but I continued to think about what this meant as a devaluation of politics and —a frightening thought that only struck me early this morning—a kind of re-occupation of the Capitol by defenders and allies of Jan. 6.

Much more on this tomorrow. Until then, stay well and stay lucid.

Ruth