Nearly 10 years ago, Donald Trump rode down a gaudy, golden escalator from his high perch atop Trump Tower down to the masses to announce his run for president. That moment would dramatically change the trajectory of the Republican Party in America — for the worse, and maybe irreparably.

That was the fear amongst many conservatives, including myself, who saw in Trump a dangerous, ignorant, narcissistic, demagogue and grifter who was untethered from the thing that mattered most to us — conservatism.

We’d later learn he was untethered from other things, too — a moral compass, ethical standards, the United States Constitution, American law, and even reality at times.

We’d watch Trump convince previously principled conservatives to abandon their principles. We’d watch Republicans jettison policy for culture wars, democracy for division, political competence for conspiracy theories.

We’d watch Trump convince an angry mob to storm the U.S. Capitol in a brazen and violent attempt to overturn democracy. We’d watch him tempt the legal system to hold him accountable for dozens of alleged felonies, including fraud and obstruction.

And we’d watch his once mighty........

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