It's hardly reasonable to expect that a single word can characterize an organism as complex as a major political party. But that's never stopped people from trying.

Right now, for instance, Republicans are painting Democrats as Marxist (Marx himself would be astonished by that one), racist (okaaay), and criminal (evidently, in Republican eyes holding the powerful accountable is criminal).

Dems, meanwhile, have pegged today's GOP as authoritarian (check), a cult (bingo!), insurrectionist (spot on), and, of course, weird. But none of those labels, taken alone, quite does the trick.

Fortunately, there is a word in English that does capture everything that has gone haywire in the GOP since it pledged fealty to now former President Donald Trump. Namely, depraved, "from Latin depravare to pervert ... crooked, bad." (Thank you, Merriam-Webster.)

And while Trumpism's poisoning of the GOP is hardly news, it's worth reminding ourselves just how depraved the head of the party truly is, and how that depravity colors every aspect of the GOP, from its very real war on women to congressional apologists cheering jailed Jan. 6, 2021, thugs.

First, never forget that Donald Trump is a rapist. As the judge in the two E. Jean Carroll defamation trials wrote in July 2023, far from clearing Trump of rape, "the jury found that Mr. Trump ... did exactly........

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