Politics has been turned into a reality television show. It’s no surprise that we’ve reached the point where fame-desperate grifters are performing in an attempt to get elected, act as disrupters, and push the political system into dangerous chaos.

Actors like MTG and Boebert are running a no-lose grift. They’ll either gain political ascendency, with no actual platform beyond self-aggrandizement, or they’ll fail and profit off that failure as perceived persecution. None of it has anything to do with making America better.

Trump’s turn at using politics as a grift broke the seal wide open and the shift is toward politics-as-entertainment-as-a-grift-as-a-platform-builder. It’s a cynical, dangerous shift, especially as paranoid, fascistic appeals are inherent in the process.

We’re a nation held captive by reality TV hopefuls desperate for attention and brand development and the corporations and the powerful who see them as useful in redirecting anger toward vulnerable populations and in dismantling government as an impediment to profit.