4 more days

The relentless barrage of media coverage of the farce known as the 2016 Presidential election will mercifully be over next Tuesday.  Unfortunately, like a tsunami or other natural disaster, the harm done by partisans on the republican side will take years to clean up.  Some of the damage done to our institutions and their reputations may be irreparable for a generation.  The candidacy of Donald Trump has laid bare the intellectual bankruptcy of the republican party.   Whether consciously or not, most leaders of the party have decided the democratic candidate, no matter who the party nominates is illegitimate.  Hillary Clinton suffers from a 30 year war on her reputation, but it would not have mattered if Bernie had been nominated.  The lies would have been different, but the implications would be the same.  As one pundit put it, we now live in a post-truth world, where nearly half the population believes in a universe where black  can be white, up can be down and freedom is slavery.  They inhabit a bubble which still believes climate change is a hoax.  In this world, a serial molester, failed businessman and pathological liar is seen as their best candidate for the most powerful office in the world.  Somewhere, democracy is lying in a dark room in a fetal position waiting for this to be over!