We look to be leaving Trumpistan in a month. As we do, it's important to realize that Trump was more a symptom than a cause. The Republican electorate is broken. As they break, they break further and further into the land of conspiracy theories and crank science. Glenn Beck and Alex Jones have long been hawking quack cures and pseudo-science and now that cynical, unreasoned outlook is the official position of the GOP.
Trump's inherent ignorance and meanness are linked. His stupidity is at the root of his cruelty. As millions of Americans withdraw from the Enlightenment, they are dragging their party with them. As the Ignatius article above reveals, Republican politicians are running scared from their feverish base. I'm not sure how we recover from 40% of Americans believing that the election was stolen. Maybe it's true that this is always the case, in which case it's more worrying about the depth of devotion to a demonstrably horrible human being like Donald Trump.
Most illuminating will be whether Republican voters remain devoted to El Caudillo Del Mar A Lago when he's no longer swaddled in the trappings of power. Will they abandon him when he becomes pathetic? Or will they double down?
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