The sheer idiocy of our current state of affairs

We've had great presidents. We've had average presidents. We've had mediocre presidents. And we've had presidents who, up until now, were considered disasters.

But I'm trying to wrap my mind around the sheer lunacy of this current regime.

This country has had its share of problems and hypocrisies. It is far from a uniformly glorious history. And that's fine; it's the mark of a people willing to learn to confront its failures, however unwillingly.

But the fact that we have in office a man who might be at death's door, and we know nothing solid of his condition, is mind-boggling.

The long-time former president of Algeria, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, had been confined to a wheelchair after a stroke in 2013. He was so ill, that he was secreted away from public view. When he put in his candidature for re-election, he was so sick that a deputy had to file the paperwork. That is what our current crisis feels like: An ailing, withered autocrat being kept in power by lackeys.

Or it's all a Weekend at Bernie's scenario. Donald Trump is hanging on by the skin of his teeth, and may soon kick the bucket. And I have to doubt if his sycophants will keep up the charade that he's alive and well and in control.

Trump is in the grips of a serious disease, all the more serious for a man of his age and comorbidities. And yet there's no inkling that preparations have been made for the transfer of power to Vice President Mike Pence, should it come to that. And we know no preparations are being made because, rather than isolating himself and preserving the line of succession, Pence is planning a campaign swing, exposing himself to more incidences of COVID-19 infection. This is the Führerprinzip red in tooth and claw. The Leader may deign to designate a successor; but make no mistake: He will cling to power until Death takes him, leaving the state in paralysis and chaos.

Make no mistake: the Trump regime cannot envision a life beyond Trump. It is as much of a cult of personality as were the Nazis or the Stalinist regime. And an American political party has degraded to such an extent that it willingly casts aside two centuries of American political history and norms to follow this regime into the bunker, as the city above is in ruins.

This was not what the Founders had envisioned. The president was not supposed to claim the appurtenances of royalty. His term is limited. Up until Franklin D. Roosevelt, the tradition was that no president would serve more than two terms. When Pres. Roosevelt broke that norm, it was codified into the Constitution. The presidency could amass a level of power which had to be curtailed. Have no doubt that Trump's cherished wish is to undo the 22nd Amendment and rule in perpetuity.

Our constitutional order has been stretched to the breaking point. It's still holding together, barely. But it was designed for an unhinged demagogue like Trump.

However, all is far from lost. The resistance to Trump has been fierce and vigorous. Americans have rediscovered the fact that freedom isn't free, and must be fought for. Apathetic for too long, a majority of the electorate realizes that a free people has to take the reins. Trump isn't king. Mitch McConnell can have his power stripped from him at the ballot box.

But, again, there is a sizeable minority of our fellow citizens who would just as well do away with democracy and install a right-wing, minority autocracy. The world which is being born frightens it to its core. It's a world in which their power is diminished, and their prejudices are put to the side. They look to Russia, Hungary, and China, and see not adversaries, but models to emulate. The blessings of competent government are boring, and don't speak to their anxieties and hatreds. Keeping this minority down and neutered is the task we face. They wouldn't flinch at violence, as we're seeing in isolated incidents. 

That the most powerful state in the history of human civilization could be brought to this pass by a carnival barker from Queens proves that anything worth having has to be fought for and defended. All it takes is one angry man to tap into a wellspring of grievance. And then the fruits of progress are deemed to be poisoned. I have no doubt that we will win. But I also fear that the victory won't be easy or swift. We must prepare of a long, twilight struggle against those who think they have all the answers, and will use any means to impose their prescriptions on the world.