As John Oliver puts our position following the latest Trump revelations and the second debate, “Let me just remind you that last Sunday, I told you if you looked above the clouds, you would see rock bottom,” recalled Oliver. “But if you look up there now, which is way, way up there, all the way up high, you will see, right up in the distance, where we were this time last week. Because since then, we have sunk so low, we are breaking through the earth’s crust, where drowning in boiling magma will come a sweet, sweet relief."
How did we get to this point? We're at a moment when parents don't want their kids to watch the debates for President of the United States because there is nothing to aspire to and too many things to avoid. How is it the right thing to dumb everything down and speak every poorly formed thought of the mind? In fact, we're almost normalizing Trump's ill-formed views and obnoxious comments by allowing them to be hosted in the presidential election.
It is a little, though only a little, relieving to see Republicans step back somewhat from the beast they have created. Paul Ryan Turns Focus From Donald Trump to House Races, Roiling G.O.P. - The New York Times: "Mr. Ryan informed Republican lawmakers on a morning conference call that he would never again campaign for Mr. Trump and would dedicate himself instead to defending the party’s majority in Congress, according to five lawmakers who participated in the call and spoke on the condition of anonymity. Effectively conceding defeat for his party in the presidential race, Mr. Ryan said his most urgent task was ensuring that Hillary Clinton did not take the helm with Democratic control of the House and Senate, two lawmakers said."
Perhaps even more significant than the House and Senate is the Supreme Court. What's so profound here is that the Court has actually been more conservative over the last 30 years. As Jeffrey Toobin writes in The New Yorker: "Liberals on the Court have spent decades in a defensive crouch, trying to fend off challenges to treasured precedents in areas such as abortion rights and affirmative action. But if they were a majority they would have the chance to go after some conservative landmarks."
I believe that the Republicans mistakenly embraced the tea party, and mistakenly chose to be a simple immovable opposition to Obama, when the demographics and societal shifts were already moving away from them. Trump is the inevitable consequence, and his election would be the US equivalent of voting for Mussolini.
But I still believe Clinton will win in a landslide, and can only hope that the Republicans decide to believe in all of America again and not just a part of their apparent base. We truly need healthy parties, healthy debate and unity in what makes America unique and great.
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