Elites who read long eloquent essays in the Atlantic comparing George Washington and Donald Trump – the glorious first, the gruesome second – aren’t (if you ask ol’ UD) making very good use of their time, pre-electionwise. It’s by now a tired warhorse, the dangerous vileness of DJT, and one can certainly continue playing variations on it, as Tom Nichols has very prettily done all the way up and down the scale; but at this point the question is not How Existential a Threat is this Authoritarian to the American Republic? Or How Far Exactly Have We Fallen from George Washington?
The question is Why is Half of the Country Voting for an Authoritarian?