TOTALLY NOT A CULT!:

We sit at the most consequential moment in a generation and it is now clear that it is not the case that President Trump doesn't want to change his behavior. It's that he is congenitally incapable to moderate it even for a single day.

The malignant self-obsession and childish vitriol only scratches the surface of the man's flaws. His compulsions aren't hidden or covered up. They are broadcast for the entire country to see, for hours on end, every day, late into the night.

Here is where the final corruption takes place. Trump's behavior is so far outside the realm of acceptable that even his supporters have been forced to concede it.

And so, because they are unwilling to abandon Trump, they have chosen to embrace his vile abnormality and wear it as a badge of honor, turning it into a rallying cry to attack anyone who is bothered by the behavior.

"Orange Man Bad," they say.

As if, by taking ownership of this fact, it somehow invalidates it.

To these Trump supporters, and cos-play non-supporters, it is only the simpleminded folk who cling to the superstitious belief that a bad man having the most important job in the world is a serious concern. Those of us who are bothered by the insane ravings of a narcissistic imbecile aren't able to see the big picture.

The view of these sophisticates is that yes this man is bad, but also maybe having him in charge can be . . . not bad. Maybe even good. For as bad as President Orange Man is, there are more pressing matters that serious people must consider.

For instance: What if a daytime CNN anchor uses hyperbole?

Or a Washington Post columnist publishes a tweet that contradicts a tweet she tweeted three years ago?

What if, somewhere in the universe, there is a liberal who needs to be owned?

Are Republicans and conservatives--and even conscientious non-Trump supporters--supposed to obsess over every little thing the leader of the free world says and does and ignore the bigger game that's afoot?

Just because 2,000 Americans are dying from a pandemic every day?

Get real, bro.

This conceit is endlessly fascinating to me. It's the old debate trick of performatively conceding the lesser point in order to win the broader point--but in reverse. Trump's people concede the most significant matter just so that they can argue the ephemera.

So they employ the MAGAfied "Orange Man Bad" retort on social media as a way of stepping over his badness to address something else, rather than engage with it.

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