I think one of the things we need to realize from all this is that these kinds of manipulations are not the province of geniuses. Trump discovered the secrets of demagogic power by yelling lots of insults and lies without looking embarrassed. His party has been advancing its agenda with all the subtle art it takes to be obviously petty, dishonest dicks. Their media supporters have been covering for them with clever propaganda like “nuh-uh” and “look over there”, and yes, it seems people have been pulling strings by such insidious machinations as telling Trump “you’re great, do this.”
I know, it’s disappointing to find the shadowy Illuminati are just a clique of jerks that have to buy their homework answers. It’s much more comforting to say we were beaten by the best. But I honestly think that’s where we are now; there are no supervillains playing chess here, just deeply banal evil.
