“The core issue is not Trump’s deceptions but the public’s self-deception: Why do we tolerate levels of deceit in political life that we would never find acceptable in our personal lives as parents, as friends, as neighbors and colleagues, and as law-abiding citizens?

“The answer, I believe, is that as our politics has reached such a state of remorseless combat that many people seem to regard telling the truth as a fashion choice — you can choose to do it, or not, as mood and circumstance vary.”

–Sally Quinn; “What Ben Bradlee Would Think of Donald Trump,” July 13, 2018; www.politico.com

I understand those working men and women who voted for Trump. They have been, to some extent, betrayed by the prosperous, and certainly maligned by too many liberals. Their vote was a protest, a wake up call.

I sympathize with Christian evangelicals, concerned about our sybaritic society, who voted for him, many with reservations about him personally. Some evangelicals who did not vote for Trump are speaking out against the choices of their fellow believers. There’s a dialog there.

My concern, instead, is for what I think of as Trump’s brown shirts: the people who would take up guns and kill—as indeed some have. Those who either are twisted inside or are frighteningly gullible—like the man who actually believed an absurd story that Hillary Clinton was running a child pornography ring out of a pizza parlor.

As Trump’s administration drags on, anything but unwavering support may cost you—your job or maybe your security clearance. Any journalist who brings up troublesome facts unfavorable to Trump’s policies is automatically labeled “fake.” Trump ignores facts, not only with constant lies, but with vile and dehumanizing insults.

That so many people today do not seem appalled by his lies and viciousness is troubling.