Yes, Trumpies imagine staying in office. All these remonstrations that they're are actually up to something more benign--fundraising, riling up the base for Georgia, placating Trump's ego--feel awfully Weimar. 1/

The post-World War II generation understood, but we no longer do, demagogy is addictive, like a narcotic; ratchet the mass a certain way and it's like Pandora's Box (think of all the great pop culture: Face in the Crowd, All the Kings Men, all those Twilight Zone episodes). 2/

Now we're supposed to believe people can just casually dip a toe into all of that, easy peasy, then stop whenever they like; to sow the wind but not reap the whirlwind. The wisdom of the ages counsels against that sort of glibness. FIN