Defending The Donald (Part I) |
The hunch is that when historians look back at the Donald Trump era (his dominance will suggest such a labeling), they will seek to answer two particular questions.
The first will be how someone of Trump's dubious character could have gotten elected to the highest office in the land, twice no less, in what certainly is a damning indictment of American democracy.
The second will be why a certain chunk of the voters, despite that low character, gave him a degree of loyalty unprecedented in American history, such that no matter how horrid his behavior, they continued to support him in undiluted fashion.
The answer to the first question, already visible, will likely refer to the dismal nature of the opponents that the Democratic Party offered up against him and how the voters were so fed up with the performance of the Joe Biden administration that they were willing to hold their noses and give even Trump a second chance.
The other question — why Trump's MAGA supporters refuse to withdraw their support regardless of his toxic tendencies, now on display to a greater extent than ever -- will likely prove to be both the more intriguing and difficult to answer, involving as it does something that we've never seen before or are likely to see again.
None of our most admired........