Sit back, relax and enjoy the ride.

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has moved its Doomsday Clock forward to 90 seconds before midnight.

The clock has been maintained since 1947 and is used as a metaphor for the likelihood that we'll blow ourselves up. Originally set at seven minutes to midnight, the farthest it has been from midnight was 17 minutes — in 1991, right after the end of the Cold War. Some mistakenly believe the clock is a gauge to register international power struggles, but according to scientists, "It is intended to reflect basic changes in the level of continuous danger in which mankind lives in the nuclear age."

In 1953, the previous closest point to midnight before 2020, scientists pushed the time forward after the Soviet Union began testing hydrogen bombs. Today it's the war in Ukraine, climate change and COVID-19 that have all helped to push us closer to the brink. As Barry McGuire sang many years ago, "You don't believe we're on the eve of destruction."

The Ukraine war has been a driving force in this latest round of fear by scientists, particularly because of Russian President Vladimir Putin's threats to use tactical or other nuclear devices. Tactical nukes could destroy agriculture in Ukraine and increase the likelihood of global famine. An exchange of nuclear ICBMs could destroy all of us.

Adding to this trepidation, of course, is the announcement on Wednesday by President Biden that the U.S. and Germany will send tanks to Ukraine. The U.S. is contributing 31 tanks despite Putin's threats. "We weigh escalation risks," a National Security Council official told me on background. Despite the Doomsday Clock movement, I was also told that there "is still no indication that we need to adjust our strategic deterrent posture." (Whatever that means.)

Meanwhile, the Earth's inner core may have started spinning in the opposite direction — perhaps in reaction to the Doomsday Clock or perhaps because all of our elected officials seem to have taken home classified documents and stored them in bedrooms, garages and offices, or perhaps used them as insulation. Makes you wonder what former President Jimmy Carter is using to build those Houses for Humanity. Look, if anybody asks, I don't have any classified documents at home, in storage, hidden in the glove compartment of my car or anywhere else for that matter. But I can't help but wonder at this point: Are there any classified documents in the National Archives? Somebody better check eBay.

Maybe the Doomsday Clock is moving closer to midnight because, less than a month into the new year, we've already experienced 39 mass shootings in the United States. There are many people who say that's not normal, but it seems to be the new normal in this country. What does that mean to you?

To me it means that 2023 isn't a month old and we already need a break. Anyone want to join me for a barbecue and beer? Well, if you can get through the tornadoes, floods, earthquakes, mudslides, blizzards and severe weather, you're welcome to join me on the patio.

No one could be happier about all the doom and gloom than Donald Trump: It could almost make you forget that he's closer to criminal prosecution than he's ever been in his life.

The cavalcade of doom and gloom seems to be never-ending and no one could be happier about that than Donald Trump — mainly because discussing a potential apocalypse could make you forget that Trump is closer to criminal prosecution than he's ever been in his life. In fact, it may be "imminent" — at least according to Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who argued in court Tuesday that a special grand jury report on the 2020 election should not be released because "at this time, in the interest of justice and the rights of not the state but others, we are asking that the report not be released because … decisions are imminent."

Of course all of this could just be more high wind in the trees — with no indictments forthcoming, no matter how wishful the thinking of Trump's opponents.

Meanwhile, the case against Trump is advancing on other fronts. The investigation into Biden's handling of classified material could, according to one DOJ source, actually lead to a quicker prosecution of Donald Trump. "With Biden and now [Mike] Pence both in possession of classified documents, it stands to reason we will have to take some kind of action," I was told, again on background. "The logical place to start is with Trump."

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Not according to Jim Jordan and other Republicans who believe that Biden is involved in a cover-up and Pence and Trump are two stooges, merely "victims of circumstance." (With apologies to Curly Howard.) But as John T. Bennett noted in his CQ Roll Call newsletter this week, Jordan and other members have little more than wishful thinking on their side if they wish to prosecute Biden:

House Republicans, as expected, have come out firing at President Joe Biden and his family. They contend the family is guilty of "influence peddling," shady -- even potentially criminal -- business dealings and a "cover-up" regarding classified documents.
But they, so far, aren't offering evidence to back it up.
Key Republicans, including House Oversight and Accountability Chairman James R. Comer of Kentucky, are ramping up efforts to attempt linking the Bidens to the Chinese government.
"This has all the pattern of an influence-peddling scheme, and it also has the makings of a potential cover-up," Comer told "Sunday Morning Futures" on Fox News, referring to the president's mishandling of classified documents.

If that sounds like more GOP grift, that's only because it is.

Elsewhere, the boom is also apparently being lowered on Trump in New York. Former Trump fixer Michael Cohen met with the Manhattan district attorney's office in the last week. He's met with them dozens of times in the past, but when Alvin Bragg took over the Manhattan D.A.'s job, it appeared any investigation into Trump was finished. Cohen chafed at that — after all, he was the only person prosecuted for paying off Stormy Daniels, and as Cohen famously said, "I didn't pay her off for me. I paid her off for Donald Trump."

Sure, Trump was "Individual 1" in those court documents, but he was never publicly identified or prosecuted for orchestrating the illegal scheme that sent Cohen to prison. Now that investigation seems to be back on track, and while Cohen wouldn't say what specifically he spoke about for two and a half hours with prosecutors, we know it wasn't about the Doomsday Clock or the Earth's inner core reversing its spin.

"It was a very thorough meeting," was the only thing Cohen would venture to say. If you want to find out what that's all about, his new book "Revenge" covers it rather nicely. (Full disclosure: I helped write that book.)

Perhaps the core is spinning backward and we're that close to midnight because at the end of the day, the lies continue. The GOP-led House has made it clear that the priority for the next two years is to investigate the Jan. 6 committee, the government's response to COVID and Hunter Biden's laptop. These investigations will include star performers like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has spouted QAnon theories in the past to explain COVID. Speaker McCarthy has said he'll never give her up. Yes, with apologies to KC and the Sunshine Band, it sure seems like a scene from "Kingsman." I'm seriously waiting for several heads in the GOP to explode because of implants.

But that psilocybin nightmare aside, the grifts continue. I grow weary watching them and watching people pointing them out. Don't misunderstand me, I do understand the need by some to point out the unending con game being run by certain members of the Republican Party. This week on my podcast "Just Ask the Question," former federal prosecutor Michael Zeldin, who was once director of the DOJ's money laundering unit, said he believed that newly-elected Rep. George Santos will be indicted for a variety of schemes conducted prior to his election. A real estate investor who lost $50,000 in one of the Ponzi schemes Santos was involved in said his operation resembled something from "Goodfellas."

Yeah. That's funny. But who's going to fold under questioning?

Until these people are held accountable, the massive grift operation against the American people will continue — and the public will remain bitterly divided. Without justice, there's only chaos and anarchy.

An endless parade of pundits, journalists and progressive advocates continue to tell us about the criminality perpetuated by those people I hold in the "highest minimum regard," as former House Speaker Tip O'Neill once said — but the grifts continue. The reason is clear: There's no accountability. That's why Rep. Matt Gaetz sits on an FBI oversight committee while being investigated by the FBI. That's why he, Trump and a host of others can get away with the Big Lie or screaming about the "Russiagate hoax" while facts suggest otherwise. That's why, at the end of the day, many of us have come to doubt all kinds of vetted facts. The reasoning is, "Well, if these guys were lying, they'd be prosecuted, wouldn't they?" The answer so far, sadly, is no.

Until these people are held accountable for their actions, then the grift conducted on the American people will continue, reaping plunder that would make those who sacked Rome jealous. And the American public will continue to be divided — because without accountability there is no justice, and where there is no justice there is merely chaos and anarchy. Those are all conditions that make the ground fertile for continued exploitation. Just ask Don the Con. Santos, Jordan, Greene and others are his eager, soulless disciples.

Accountability starts at the top. There was a time in this country when we truly believed that no one was above the law. At least, that's always been the theory. It is being put to the test today. So while others continue to call out the grift, let me stay true to this course: Hold them all accountable. Start with Donald Trump. Otherwise the grift will continue and it's pointless to waste your breath pointing it out.

There should be a political Doomsday Clock for that. If we don't take action now, we're much closer to midnight than the nuclear clock.

The U.S. House of Representatives — even to those in it — often seems like a circus.

As Kevin McCarthy's bid to become the next speaker of the House of Representatives failed for a fourth time Wednesday afternoon, President Biden and Sen. Mitch McConnell appeared together near a bridge over the Ohio River in northern Kentucky to speak about the bipartisan infrastructure bill passed last year.

Back on Capitol Hill, McCarthy would taste defeat two more times before the House adjourned until Thursday afternoon — after debating that for nearly a half an hour on Wednesday night.

Having fun yet in the New Year?

Live! For the first time on television and the first time since 1923! The vote to name the Speaker of the House goes longer than one ballot. It's the dramatic story of factions on edge. On the right we have the far right and the twisted 20 crazies. Join us! C-SPAN's newest hit show. It's "Speaker of the House" broadcast live, in living color and for free.

See the thrills. Listen to the chills:

"It's hurting our party!"

"Coalition government!"

"It's all or nothing!"

"Washington is broken!"

"Democracy is messy!"

"We respect our opponents, but hate the Democrats!"

Where's the popcorn? It's the best staged circus in history with clowns, brave and ignorant fools; a high wire, a trampoline and trapeze act, human oddities and despicable acts usually only seen in all the worst parts of the Christian Bible, or a cheap adult bookstore.

It's American politics at its finest. The Republicans are in shambles and the Democrats are loving it, watching the GOP eat its own for once. Usually it's the Democrats who engage in a public cannibal feast, so you can imagine the joy they have felt watching two days of the Republicans turn carnivorous.

It's always tough to take Jim Jordan seriously, and his apparent coup attempt against McCarthy had all the appeal of a middle-school production of "Macbeth."

Never has the election of a House speaker been so electric. For once it's more exciting than watching bingo. But it comes with a price — all politics does. Rep. Jim Jordan got a shot at the center stage and feigned loyalty to Kevin McCarthy (which is suspicious on the face of it) while enjoying Matt Gaetz, Lauren Boebert and others puckering up and presenting their eager lips to his political posterior.

It's hard to take Jordan seriously even when he swears with all of his heart that he's for real. As he made his own impassioned plea in nominating Kevin McCarthy, a reporter turned to me and said, "Is he nominating McCarthy or himself?" Jordan's apparent coup attempt against Kevin McCarthy's leadership had all the appeal of a badly performed middle-school production of "Macbeth" and was viewed by the GOP as a joke — except for the 20 people in the House apparently crazier than Jordan.

When that failed, the former wrestler and current Ohio congressman proved he was a deal maker on a sinking ship. Jordan is the guy who'd sell you a stateroom on the Titanic, real cheap — after the iceberg hit. His real desire, we're all told, is to head up the Judiciary Committee and spend the next two years investigating Hunter Biden's laptop. After that, he wouldn't mind being speaker. Be careful what you wish for, Jimbo.

But he'd had enough by the end of Tuesday night, and by the time Wednesday rolled around Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida found himself the first African-American man nominated by the Republicans for the speaker's role. Of course, he was nominated by the 20 most extreme members of the GOP, who want to sabotage the democratic process by introducing rules that will enable their minority wing to effectively exercise control over the entire House. Only the Republicans can sound racist even as they nominate a Black man for the top job.

McCarthy, no slouch at sleaze, remained firm — as did his supporters. After six ballots, no one budged, blinked or changed their mind. In fact after adjourning Wednesday afternoon in order to supposedly work out a deal, the House reconvened at 8 p.m. The only noticeable difference was the ruddy smiles on some faces that indicated they'd spent the last few hours imbibing. Thirty minutes later, after much haggling, the House finally adjourned for the night.

The biggest smiles were on the faces of Democrats — including that of Joe Biden, who shook his head at his public appearance with McConnell and then again later when he arrived at the White House as he condemned the Republicans' inability to choose a leader: "Having a Congress that can't function is just embarrassing. We're the greatest nation in the world. How can that be?"

The answer to that question is simple, but few want to face it. Certainly not the Republicans, who declared how great we are even as they showed us their inability to govern. We all know politicians are itinerant whores, but this first week of Republican control of the House looks like a mashup between the television shows "Dallas" and "Hee Haw." (Look it up. I haven't got time to explain.)

Everyone claimed they wouldn't blink and their opponent would, which set up the head-on collision on the House floor. "A House Divided," the headlines screamed. No kidding. The House is divided between Democrats and Republicans, and the Republicans are divided among themselves. The dazed and stunned GOP, a far cry from the boogeymen (mostly old white men) they want to be, looked like pre-schoolers taking a dump on the living room floor while the extended family visits for the holidays. Of course, some people enjoy that type of thing, and apparently many are members of Congress.

The far right was exposed, but they never cared about that. You can't embarrass a group of individuals who are unaware of their own ignorance. Worse yet, they have no shame. They care only about unfettered power.

The only issues on their mind are fentanyl and immigration, both of which they either purposely twist or completely misunderstand. Chances are it's both.

During the course of the last two days a flurry of rumors passed through the House. Walking the halls of House offices is often like visiting a dentist's office in a whorehouse. On Tuesday and Wednesday, the dentist took the day off. So we heard that McCarthy was crossing over to talk to Democrats, hoping to get them not to show up for the vote so he could win. Conversely, GOP members were going to get fed up and throw their lot in with Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, who got 212 votes (six short of the needed threshold of 218) in all six rounds of voting.

We heard that McCarthy hoped to get Democrats not to show up for the vote so he could win it — or that GOP members would get fed up and throw in their lot with Hakeem Jeffries. None of it was true.

Depending on which rumor-monger was spreading the story, it was either members of the twisted 20 holdouts or six members of the Republican mainstream who would switch over. Some spread the rumor that Republicans would either vote "present" or not show up at all, thus giving Jeffries the speakership by default. None of it was true. Only one Republican, Victoria Spartz of Indiana, voted "present." McCarthy's supporters never budged. The twisted 20 only changed their public face and the Democrats never twitched. "This is their problem," several Democratic congressmen told me.

That's just fine with Matt Gaetz, who would be the guy who steered the GOP Titanic into the iceberg. Breaking with McCarthy, Gaetz — the poster boy for criminal crazy — loudly lobbied and promoted first Jordan and then Donalds.

"I hope they get their act together," Biden said more than once on Wednesday. Maybe he does, but he's clearly enjoying the spectacle. "The rest of the world is looking," he admonished. "It's a little embarrassing it's taking so long, and the way they are dealing with another."

The extremists in the GOP — a party of extremists — keep saying this is about rules changes. They neglect to mention that they want to change the rules so a minority can rule the majority. It's their last chance at relevance. In two years most of them won't be around.

But there are several things that this historic haggling has clearly brought into focus, and the most important is how out of touch the Republicans are with everyday Americans. While screaming about their relevance, they show how irrelevant they've become. Are the Democrats just as bad? Maybe, but at least they've kept their mouths shut in the last few days while the GOP descended into mind-numbing chaos and put their ugly political posteriors on clear view.

Rep. Kat Cammack nominated McCarthy for the final vote on Wednesday, saying she understood why people didn't want him as speaker while also praising him for standing up to critics — which he famously has never done. Not to be outdone, Rep. Lauren Boebert nominated Donalds by imitating a coyote baying at the moon while demanding McCarthy give up. Should McCarthy eventually prevail, Boebert will have a tough time finding a committee assignment. Meanwhile Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, whose childish insults of McCarthy in the past have been more embarrassing for her than him, was seen breaking with her fellow crazies while standing on a leash behind McCarthy. She's betting McCarthy gives her a plum committee assignment if he gets the job.

Then there's McCarthy himself. The insipid, spineless man who once delivered a speech entitled "How the GOP can solve problems in government" has been unable to solve the simplest of matters — getting 218 votes.

It doesn't portend well for government in the next two years. But one thing said by all the different people who nominated McCarthy for speaker does ring true: This is a transparent display of our government in action — and there's no doubt that people on both sides of the aisle don't like what they see. The House circus showed off a variety of freaks, but as a governing body it is less effective than a grade school PTA.

That Cheshire-cat grin on most Democrats' faces as they watch the GOP crumble should be put aside. The challenge facing the country is acute and Republican members of Congress have shown themselves to be feckless fools with the mental acumen of toddlers, the demeanor of preschoolers, the confidence of a schoolyard bully and the ability of a large rock in a stream.

We must do better. Oddly enough, we saw better Wednesday.

Joe Biden and Mitch McConnell are the bitterest of political rivals. They disagree on many issues. They have had harsh words for each other. There they were speaking together Wednesday in the red state of Kentucky. Shaking hands. Riding in a car together. Discussing issues, sharing pleasantries and promoting the bipartisan infrastructure bill Biden spearheaded last year. Blink and you'll miss the bipartisanship in our government. But for those who want some hope, there it was. It got very little attention as the circus set itself ablaze on Capitol Hill.

There, it was all about anger and vitriol. Late on Wednesday the blood feud in the House GOP continued, with reports that a McCarthy-aligned super PAC, the Congressional Leadership Fund, has agreed to stop picking candidates in primaries in safe Republican seats.

McCarthy will do anything to be speaker. It will be interesting to see what he'll do with the job. Don't expect much — the bloodletting has left the GOP anemic and weakened. For how long, no one can say. But it's left an indelible impression on the voting public.

The Republican Party is out of touch and its hypocrisy can be summed up by Rep. Warren Davidson. He spoke out against dehumanizing the opposition as he nominated McCarthy in the fifth round, then attacked the Democrats in the next sentence. What a start to the new year.

This time around, the squeaking of a nearby crane did him in.

Guests and members of the press gathered on a cool fall afternoon in the Rose Garden Tuesday to hear President Biden talk about health care for seniors and the price of insulin.

This article first appeared in Salon.

But as is typical with anything Biden says of late, the message got drowned out. This time literally, as well as figuratively. Bob Parant, a Medicare beneficiary with type 1 diabetes, spoke about all the good things the Biden administration has done for the elderly before introducing the president, but a construction crane on the North Lawn began squeaking so loudly that it not only drowned out Parant's speech, but a good portion of Biden's as well.

TV and sound technicians grimaced at the loud interruption, so I asked a nearby press wrangler if they could "shut that shit off," since, you know, the president was talking. The wrangler shrugged his shoulders and said there wasn't much that could be done. I didn't expect that answer.

That serves well enough as a metaphor for most of Biden's time in office and his communication woes. His message consistently gets drowned out by the din of a world that's divided and stressed — or by a crane no one will shut up while he delivers a speech meant to reach the elderly, many of whom aren't thrilled with his actions in office. As usual, his communications staff couldn't do anything about it.

Hurricane Ian also drowned out the festivities, and Biden had to shift gears and speak about that issue first, leading many of the assembled reporters to ask why we were even gathered in the Rose Garden in the first place. Shouldn't we be talking about the impending natural disaster? It seemed like yet another misstep by this administration. Over the last year and a half, chief of staff Ron Klain has taken most of the heat for the president's comms problems — and for good reason. He runs the show. He sets the agenda. Radio, TV and newspaper executives, as well as some reporters, have complained that Klain has no love for the press and thinks we're a bunch of fools. Some have talked of heated disagreements with Klain.

Joe Biden's biggest problems have been caused by external factors: Ukraine, Donald Trump, inflation, hurricanes, the rise of fascism. But his administration has been most adept at stepping on its own feet.

But the biggest problems facing this presidency have been brought about by external factors, not by an ill-tempered or short-sighted chief of staff. The war in Ukraine, the constant daily drama surrounding Donald Trump, inflation, hurricanes, the rise of fascism in Italy and other national and international stories have diminished Biden's message. His administration has seemed most adept at stepping on its own feet, with ill-advised corrections, ill-advised appearances and a flat-footed approach both inside the briefing room and in the real world.

Consider the Russian invasion of Ukraine. While Biden's biggest critics have pounded him on most issues, when it comes to Ukraine they often silently and sullenly nod their heads and admit he has done a "decent if not a damn fine job" in dealing with the biggest existential threat to the world we have faced since the end of the Cold War.

That war has helped to wreck economies around the world, increased the fear of nuclear war, and is fundamentally responsible for the inflation spiral and the threat of global recession. War is bad for business, but Vladimir Putin doesn't care. He's on a mission.

So is Biden. And as one Republican senator explained, "He seems to be at his best when things are at their worst." Or, as a Pentagon source put it, "We've been fundamentally sound in our measured response to Putin. We've done a good job at trying to contain it."

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This week the threat of nuclear war — particularly the potential use of tactical nukes on the battlefield — has re-emerged as Putin has said he's not bluffing about it. "If the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, we will without a doubt use all available means to protect Russia and our people. This is not a bluff," Putin said. Since he just staged a fake referendum and now claims that large areas of Ukrainian territory are now officially part of Russia, he has a built-in justification for using tactical nukes on the battlefield, or even perhaps larger nuclear arms somewhere else — if Ukraine refuses to accept the results of this referendum.

As has been reported in the Atlantic and elsewhere, this is an indication of the desperation Putin now feels as he loses manpower and territory in Ukraine. A sham referendum "is what Putin wanted and needed to make it seem legitimate," the Pentagon source told me, "but he's fooling no one."

Indeed, Putin continues to threaten the use of nukes even after an official in his own government said they weren't on the table. "We are aware of these threats and we're monitoring them," a Pentagon source told me, "but so far they haven't led to us changing our approach to Ukraine." In other words, there's no evidence that the Russians are moving nuclear weapons to the battlefield. The threat is real, however. Putin is "not backing off. He's doubling down," said the source. "He shows no sign of wanting to negotiate," and thus the pressure builds.

Putin has reportedly called up 300,000 reservists to throw them into the fight, but that isn't going so well either. Reports inside Russia show people refusing to go or even fleeing the country however they can. This week, the State Department warned anyone with dual U.S./Russian citizenship to get out of Russia or face possible conscription into the military. Putin's war is starting to look absurd.

Meanwhile, the Russian leader is losing his international mojo. Both India and China have recently given him the cold shoulder, further isolating him. His failures in the Donbas region and in southern Ukraine have further exacerbated the situation. He is like a cornered sewer rat who can become infinitely more dangerous through fear.

"The nuclear threat is as real as it gets," a Defense Department source explained on background. The question is, are we in the press reporting it rationally or hyperbolically?

Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, a leading figure in Putin's inner circle, said the West would not intervene even if "Russia is forced to use the most fearsome weapon against the Ukrainian regime," because "demagogues across the ocean and in Europe are not going to die in a nuclear apocalypse."

According to U.S intelligence sources, as reported by the BBC, Russia has about 2,000 tactical nuclear weapons they could bring to the party in Ukraine. But using any of those would raise the stakes toward all-out nuclear war, would contaminate vital farmland, and would threaten further action against Putin in his own country.

Putin is "not backing off. He's doubling down," said my Pentagon source. "He shows no sign of wanting to negotiate," and so the pressure builds. The threat is all too real.

The nuclear threat has put everything under a microscope when it comes to Russia. Apparent sabotage of the Nord Stream pipeline this week led several European countries to point the finger at Russia. After three days of methane gas pouring into the Baltic Sea, no one has been identified as the perpetrator, nor is there clear evidence of sabotage. Russia has suggested the U.S. is to blame — Russia helped build the pipeline, after all — and the EU's foreign policy chief has said that the damage is "utterly unacceptable and will be met with a robust and united response." No one has even suggested a plausible motive for sabotage.

Meanwhile, the Independent reports that Chinese and Russian naval warships were seen 75 miles from Alaska's Aleutian Islands, prompting a host of articles about the supposed incursion. "Look, this isn't atypical," I was told by my Pentagon source. "They've operated near Hawaii before. Seventy-five miles isn't that close. We've operated closer [than that] to Russian and Chinese territory."

So while there are rational concerns, so far there's nothing to show that Putin is doing more than trying to scare people and take advantage of that fear. His actions serve as a reminder that we're all in this together and the world is an increasingly small place.

Divisive politics around the world are increasingly damaging our chances for peace and prosperity. Nothing brought that home more than Tuesday's press briefing. FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell spoke directly to those who were upset that President Biden had not yet spoken to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis about hurricane Ian.

I asked Criswell whether that has impeded efforts by FEMA or the federal government to implement plans in Florida. Her response was straightforward: "We do not bring politics into our ability to respond to these disasters. We're going to support whatever Gov. DeSantis asks of us."

I pressed her again: "So the communication between the president and the governor has no impact on how you all operate?"

She answered. "Zero."

By Wednesday, Biden had finally spoken to DeSantis, and the Florida governor actually said the president was helpful. Even in the political climate of the United States, there are still times when we can put aside our differences. There's a global lesson to be learned here as well.

On Tuesday, Biden's health care initiative pep talk ended with standard stump-speech material about giving people "breathing room" and how the United States needs to remember who we are. Then he began shaking hands among the many people — not many of them senior citizens — who had assembled to hear him.

I climbed up a ladder abandoned by a photographer and watched President Biden glad-hand and take selfies with his supporters. Music blared from the half-dozen or so speakers set up on the South Lawn. I tried to time my shouted question as one song ended and before another began.

"Are you concerned about Russia using tactical nukes in Ukraine?" I asked. Biden caught the question and looked squarely at me, while standing some 30 feet away. But the music began again and blared from a speaker a foot from my right ear. I could barely hear myself. Biden squinted and waved at me to ask again. But as loud as I can be as a former football coach, I couldn't pierce the music. Biden gave up and walked away.

There's a metaphor for this administration as well. The cacophony of competing questions about the economy, the stock market, COVID, Trump, misogyny, racism, health care, public education and infrastructure all battle for his attention.

Meanwhile, the existential threat of a nuclear conflagration remains — unable so far to pierce the ring of fire that our divisive politics have become.

But there's hope. After all, if Biden and DeSantis can come together, even for a moment, then anything is possible.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres opened the first post-pandemic meeting of the General Assembly in New York this week warning that the world is in a dangerous place: more divided than ever, teetering on the edge of totalitarianism due to economic inequity and facing a mountain of problems due to climate change. "Divides are growing deeper. Inequalities are growing wider," he said. "And challenges are spreading farther."

We all know the source of the great divide in the United States: former President Donald Trump. He's the large rock thrown into the world's political ocean, causing tsunamis and ripple effects that can tear nations asunder.

God bless his pointed, dyed and empty head, he's still hard at it. A few days earlier, Trump held a rally in Youngstown, Ohio, before his faithful QAnon followers in a half-empty arena. They raised a one-finger salute to him at such an angle that for many it invited comparison to the Nazi salute. To me it looked more like something from a Three Stooges skit. And no, it wasn't "that" finger.

Meanwhile, Marjorie Taylor Greene was accused of kicking child activists, Matt Gaetz was reported to have sought a preemptive pardon for sex-crime charges he has yet to face and Ron DeSantis and his Texas confederate, Greg Abbott, are using asylum seekers as pawns, shipping them off to Northern cities like a pair of human traffickers in training. All of this highlights the growing sense that we are two nations, instead of the United States, while also showing the world how regressive, hateful and fear-mongering the Republicans have become.

I don't feel completely certain this reality isn't just the LSD flashback my college dealer promised before I took some bad blotter acid. Meanwhile, most who have a conscience and are conscious believe there will never be a reckoning for the loathsome, dehumanizing, racist, misogynistic, rage-fueled, empty-headed, divisive actions of politicians across the globe.

There is a certain unity among the fans of authoritarianism, and today the American far right is replete with Vladimir Putin lovers. Putin is the ultimate strongman in today's world and wants to get the old Soviet Union band back together. He hates democracy and, with the exception of Donald Trump, has never gotten along with American presidents. He's funneled money into politics across the globe to try and destroy democratic governments — even dumping money into the NRA to spread his authoritarian message to those Americans who worship guns before Jesus, while still claiming they are Christian.

Those gun-loving evangelicals are pushing hard to make sure women die or are forced to give birth, and don't really seem to care which happens. If women die in childbirth, they'll shrug their shoulders and say, "Whatever God wills." If unwanted children are born, those same so-called Christians will shrug their shoulders and refuse the mother and child sustenance, health care or infrastructure. But they'll happily support hiring those children a few years later to pick lettuce or work in coal mines, if only they can crush the unions that once pushed for child labor laws. They are eager to defend the right to choose when it comes to COVID vaccines, but not when it comes to women. They remain chattel.

The Democrats are struggling to hold onto both their sanity and a majority in Congress. They just can't seem to figure out why anyone would still support Trump, Abbott, DeSantis, Greene, Gaetz, Lauren Boebert, Jim Jordan, Mitch McConnell or the other rancorous horsefly larvae in the Republican Party.

Rusty Bowers, an Arizona conservative Republican who testified before the House Jan. 6 committee, recently lost the GOP primary for a state Senate seat to former state Sen. David Farnsworth, who said he had "no doubt" the 2020 election was stolen from Trump by a "conspiracy headed up by the devil himself." Hmm — maybe he's the one who took the wrong acid and is now having his flashback.

At any rate, Bowers said "welcome to fascism" afterward, and that seems to be where we are just six weeks from the 2022 midterm elections. That's a significant timeframe: It was six weeks before the 2020 general election when Trump told me in the White House briefing room that he wouldn't accept a peaceful transfer of power. We all know where that ended. He has never accepted his defeat.

It appears we're still in the same boat, rowing toward the Trump-induced tsunami — an existential horror show highlighted by crimes against humanity and underscored by an especially scary week in news.

But let's take some time to understand what we're actually seeing this week: It's the end of Donald Trump, the death throes of an anachronistic political party and the destruction of authoritarianism (if we choose) on a global scale.

Sure, it's frightening to see Donald Trump sucking up to QAnon supporters while continuing to beg for money in the dozens of daily emails sent out to his supporters. Those QAnon folks are batshit nuts. But if they're your core supporters, you're cooked. National polls show Trump's post-presidential popularity continuing to fade. Are those QAnon supporters violent? Sure, some are. But can Trump move the mainstream like he did in 2016? Not a chance. He's supported by a continually dwindling number of malcontents, morons and mavens of autocracy. He's losing his mojo.

This week's $250 million civil suit filed in New York by state Attorney General Letitia James against Trump, his company and his three adult children underscores how little time Trump has left as a grifter preying upon a gullible public. Trump had "violated several state criminal laws, including falsifying business records, issuing false financial statements and insurance fraud," James said. She added that Trump wasn't going to get away with it just because he was an ex-president. Thank God.

Let's face it, we all knew it was going to end this way. If you saw Trump make fun of a reporter with a disability, if you ever saw him on his TV show or if you ever met the man in person — you had to know. If you didn't, then you were his mark.

For months I've said that all this ends with an indictment, and I see no reason to change my mind now. Trump's former fixer, Michael Cohen, who was thanked by James in her press conference, told me afterward that he was appreciative of the shout-out (after all, the original investigation began with him) but was surprised as well. "The last few years have been filled with sadness, pain and anger," he told me, but Wednesday's announcement by James "makes all that hell worth it." Cohen also believes Trump will be indicted, and still thinks he won't run for president again. "It's all about the con," he said.

And Trump's powers to run the con are waning. He convinced a judge (who he had appointed) to order a special master to review classified and other material seized after the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago in August, but that hasn't gone so well for Trump to this point. Judge Raymond Dearie of Brooklyn — the guy Trump's team wanted — told Trump's lawyers, "You can't have your cake and eat it," after they consistently declined to repeat Trump's public assertions that he had declassified all the documents taken from his home. (In an interview with Sean Hannity on Wednesday evening, Trump claimed that as president he could declassify documents "just by thinking about it.") It appears Trump is no longer the master of his domain.

The news got worse for him on Wednesday when a panel of judges on the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals granted a Justice Department request that will allow prosecutors to continue investigating the former president while Dearie evaluates the materials taken by the FBI from Mar-a-Lago — even if the agents refused to take their shoes off.

But Trump isn't the only racist, fear-mongering con man whose time is running out.

Ron DeSantis thinks he's a pretty smart guy. He's managed to limit press coverage and criticism of his more Mussolini-like tendencies. He also really likes to stick it to the Democrats, the Walt Disney Company and anyone else in Florida who doesn't bend over and take it. He is one of the biggest peddlers of fear in our country right now. His "stunt" in shipping immigration asylum seekers to Martha's Vineyard could actually be considered a criminal act — and at the very least was irrational and hateful.

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Joe Walsh, the former Tea Party congressman who was Trump's only GOP opponent in 2020, pointed directly at DeSantis for creating fear where there should be none. "This needs to be said again: There are people every day who sneak across the border and enter this country illegally," Walsh wrote on Twitter. "But people seeking asylum are NOT entering this country illegally. And those people DeSantis put on a plane were seeking asylum. They were NOT here illegally."

Turns out some of those asylum seekers are now suing DeSantis. After that he reportedly backtracked from the chorus of hearty guffaws, allegedly saying he wasn't the architect of the plan to spend Florida's tax dollars on shipping asylum seekers from Texas all the way to Massachusetts. He'll be cooked before he can ever become another Donald Trump.

Matt Gaetz is on the outs, and apparently can't find a date on Tinder or Bumble. Ted Cruz can't find a Cancún cabana in which to hide. Jim Jordan is facing scrutiny for his role in a college sexual abuse scandal, the focus of an upcoming HBO documentary produced by George Clooney. Greene and Boebert are pariahs with little actual power, just big mouths. They gain attention like the kid in the sandbox who constantly soils themselves, through indiscriminate yelling. That leaves Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul, two devilish freaks of nature who must have a special ingredient in their Kentucky bourbon to keep them standing despite their fascist tendencies. Those two, along with Bill Barr, seem to have preternatural survival instincts.

That's on the domestic front. Guterres pointed out that the problem of totalitarianism is spreading across the globe. Trump, with his bombast and open disregard for the law, enabled petty dictators everywhere. That point was underscored this week as Putin announced he would call up 300,000 reserves for the war on Ukraine and threatened to retaliate against the West with nuclear weapons if he so chooses.

"He has 81 percent of his army committed in Ukraine," a source at the National Security Council told me. "He is losing and has no other play." This move shows both Putin's weakness and his danger. Much like Trump, he's a cornered rat — the man behind the rise of global authoritarianism. He's a master of deflection, propaganda and the long con, and he's made the world much more dangerous. Still, there is hope.

In Guterres' speech this week he made one thing exceptionally clear: If you can still speak out against the fascists, then there's still hope they can be defeated.

But it was Letitia James and the 11th Circuit Court on Wednesday who made that deliciously clear.

Comedian Kathy Griffin recently received a rash of grief for insinuating in a tweet that the Republicans want to start a civil war. But it is actual Republicans who have floated that possibility – not Griffin. So what would that entail? What would that future look like?

For those who are pondering how to use their vote this fall, it's time to take a look at what kind of future we will face should those who call themselves "Trump Patriots" succeed, either through the ballot box, violence or both.

I've seen one of those possible futures for the United States.

I can only hope it's not the future for the United States.

It is not pretty. It is not comfortable. In this future, 50 years after a period of civil war, insurrection and widespread violence, things have changed dramatically.

Billionaires own their own media outlets and truth is malleable depending on who does the reporting. It is a future where corruption and greed by mega-rich politicians has destroyed the culture. Authoritarianism reigns.

In this future, there is little infrastructure. Extended power outages like those that recently occurred in Texas are endemic, as are failing water systems like the ones we've seen in Jackson, Mississippi, and Flint, Michigan. If you want power, you have to buy or rent generators and then pay for fuel to keep them running. If you want fresh water, you have to buy it and store it in fiberglass towers on your roof.

There are no public streetlights, no basic infrastructure, few jobs. Don't drive into tunnels. Public transit doesn't work. The upside? No light pollution at night: You can see the stars.

There are no public streetlights, so at night the roads are dark. Don't drive into a tunnel if you can possibly avoid it: It's pitch black in there. On the upside, there's no light pollution at night, even in the largest cities, since there are no lights. Public transit, including buses and trains, is never on time and rarely works as it's supposed to. If a terrorist act occurs, like the destruction of the World Trade Center? Two years later, nothing has been rebuilt or repaired. That lack of basic infrastructure has compromised roads, bridges and ports — many are crumbling and unsafe. There are few jobs. Starvation is becoming a problem.

As infrastructure crumbles, the politicians begin buying votes directly — paying off the poor for their votes by giving them handouts monthly. Politicians can do that because they have successfully manipulated local election boards, putting their minions from the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers in jobs as "poll watchers" who stand around armed on Election Day, as close as three feet from voters. Texas recently tried (but failed) to pass a law on drive-through voting that would permit poll watchers to get into cars with voters.

Thanks to the disdain shown by Congress for anything deemed "socialism," medical coverage is nonexistent unless you purchase private insurance — and even then it isn't guaranteed. There is no hope of basic health maintenance, and you pray that no one in your family has to handle a medical emergency: Since you can't afford health care, they will likely die. Hospitals charge exorbitant fees because they too have to pay premium prices for water and electricity.

Public education is a shambles. People like Gov. Ron DeSantis in Florida fire independent school board members. Only those who accept the ruling party's political rhetoric are allowed to remain. Qualified teachers flee as pay becomes erratic.

Elections are run by party hacks who toe the line and place in office only sycophants who support the political ruling class.

If all that sounds too dystopian to believe, I'm here to tell you that such a country already exists, and routinely endures such calamities. That country is Lebanon, where everything described above is now daily life, because corrupt politicians have helped make it that way. Though Lebanon is a poor and developing nation, four of the 10 richest Middle Eastern men, according to Forbes, are Lebanese politicians. Lebanon is the smallest country in continental Asia, roughly the size of Connecticut. According to the World Bank, its current economic crisis is one of the worst in the world since the 19th century. On the surface, you might say that the U.S. has almost nothing in common with Lebanon. Look deeper.

Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course.

Armed violence? Hell the U.S. has more private guns and arsenals than several nations in the developing world combined. A fear of everyday life and the fear of chaos? Yep. Got that. Divisive politics and the threat of violence from religious zealots? Yep. Faltering education, infrastructure problems and voter suppression? Check, check and check.

We've seen the threats of kidnapping and murder against government officials (just ask Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in Michigan) and we already have an exceptionally divisive media environment. All these things are necessary to breed the type of violence that consumes nations.

"The way civil wars were conducted in the past is not the way they are now," historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat told me for the podcast "Just Ask the Question." There won't be two standing armies fighting each other, she explained: "There will be sporadic outbreaks of violence, insurgencies — and we have that already."

We even share something else with Lebanon.

The nail through that nation's heart was driven two years ago. Emerging from 50 years of internal strife from a civil war and countless invasions by its neighbors, Lebanon hoped to leave its violent past behind.

On Aug. 4, 2020, a large amount of ammonium nitrate stored at the Port of Beirut exploded. The explosion resembled a small thermonuclear detonation. An estimated 7,000 people were injured, and 218 died. The explosion caused more than $15 billion in property damage and left 300,000 people homeless. Residents called it the "9/11 of Lebanon." Anyone who was alive in the area knows the incident well. It was felt throughout the country, registered as 3.3 on the Richter scale and was heard as far away as Cyprus.

Because news in Lebanon is unreliable, few there agree on what caused the explosion. While around the world it is commonly understood as a tragic and catastrophic accident, inside the country more diabolical theories have taken hold — and those stories have been used by insurance companies to keep from paying off claims. Russia, Syria and Israel play central roles in these supposed conspiracies to destroy Beirut, depending on where you get your information. The only thing everyone agrees upon is that two years later the city's downtown area, including the central shopping and government districts, remains largely empty. Most of the buildings that were destroyed or badly damaged have not been repaired or replaced.

Beirut, which was once described as the "Paris of the Middle East," now resembles a failed nation's sewage lagoon. More than 50 percent of the city's residents live below the poverty level. Many high-rise buildings were left incomplete or have been abandoned. Kids can be seen at night playing in the ruins. Just to conduct the recently concluded Lebanese Independent Film Festival in Beirut, organizers had to truck in generators and water to stage a three-day event. Festival organizer Gauthier Raad spoke defiantly about Lebanon's future. "We have to work together. That's what this festival demonstrates," he said. "We can't wait on handouts from anyone or expect others to fix our problems. We have to do it ourselves."

Beirut was once known as the "Paris of the Middle East." Now the downtown shopping district is empty. Half the residents live below the poverty line. Kids play at night in ruined or abandoned buildings.

Fifty years of civil war, internal strife and stupefyingly corrupt government has reduced this tiny and beautiful country into a feudal empire, ruled by rich and increasingly dangerous politicians — many of whom have religious axes to grind. Those who preached hope have been assassinated. Lebanon has been conquered, liberated, invaded, bombed, trashed, raped, beaten, risen up and beaten down so much since the dawn of time it appears the world has grown weary dealing with it.

Imagine being a Lebanese citizen and surviving nearly two years, in some locations, without water, electricity or other basics. People sleep outside on the roof to try and stay cool. Former doctors and engineers hire themselves out as drivers and cabbies because they have cars and can drive around what few tourists dare come to the country, for meager fees that barely enable them to pay their bills.

We see the seeds of this ruin in the actions of the self-described "Trump Patriots" in the United States. We can see mainstream media courting the far right to make money, and promoting a "false equivalency" that further stokes the flames that could lead to a Lebanese-style dystopia in the U.S.

As recently as Wednesday, thousands found themselves stranded at the airport in Austin, Texas, when an unexpected underground equipment malfunction led to a power outage. "As I sit in the dark at the airport … with thousands of others who also wait on delayed flights due to an unexplained power outage," Cooper Hefner tweeted, "I can't help but think of the importance of investing federal funds to improve U.S. infrastructure."

Indeed.

Lebanon is tribally divided because there are 18 different religions in the country and the ruling class has exploited those differences to feather its own nest.

We are much too close to the same situation in the United States, where our tribal divisions are not only fueled by religion but also by racism, cynicism and misogyny.

Lebanon remains a friendly country, where even in villages like Bsharri (which means "house of truth" in Aramaic) you will find open doors and people who offer you coffee and conversation. For many of the older residents, who've seen violence and political strife come and go, there is little hope of change. "What can you do?" they ask visitors. The younger generation is a little more hopeful, as represented by the artists who organized, staged and contributed to the film festival.

In the United States, our divisions can make us wary of strangers and those who think differently. We threaten and jail them. Sometimes we shoot them or beat them.

Recent news stories highlight the jailing of pregnant women, threats of violence against African Americans and a Trump-appointed Supreme Court that has already taken away one long-guaranteed civil right and is now setting its sights on others.

When Michelle Obama appeared at the White House Wednesday for the unveiling of her portrait — alongside her husband, the former president — she became emotional about the national story that "includes every American," insisting that "our democracy is so much bigger than our differences."

The veracity of that statement is being tested every day. This fall's midterm elections will determine America's future for years to come.

The current plight of Lebanon remains one possible option, should the authoritarians prevail. Michelle Obama, among many others, remains hopeful it does not. Kathy Griffin has a point — but she isn't necessarily predicting the future.

Comedian Kathy Griffin recently received a rash of grief for insinuating in a tweet that the Republicans want to start a civil war. But it is actual Republicans who have floated that possibility – not Griffin. So what would that entail? What would that future look like?

For those who are pondering how to use their vote this fall, it's time to take a look at what kind of future we will face should those who call themselves "Trump Patriots" succeed, either through the ballot box, violence or both.

I've seen one of those possible futures for the United States.

I can only hope it's not the future for the United States.

It is not pretty. It is not comfortable. In this future, 50 years after a period of civil war, insurrection and widespread violence, things have changed dramatically.

Billionaires own their own media outlets and truth is malleable depending on who does the reporting. It is a future where corruption and greed by mega-rich politicians has destroyed the culture. Authoritarianism reigns.

In this future, there is little infrastructure. Extended power outages like those that recently occurred in Texas are endemic, as are failing water systems like the ones we've seen in Jackson, Mississippi, and Flint, Michigan. If you want power, you have to buy or rent generators and then pay for fuel to keep them running. If you want fresh water, you have to buy it and store it in fiberglass towers on your roof.

There are no public streetlights, so at night the roads are dark. Don't drive into a tunnel if you can possibly avoid it: It's pitch black in there. On the upside, there's no light pollution at night, even in the largest cities, since there are no lights. Public transit, including buses and trains, is never on time and rarely works as it's supposed to. If a terrorist act occurs, like the destruction of the World Trade Center? Two years later, nothing has been rebuilt or repaired. That lack of basic infrastructure has compromised roads, bridges and ports — many are crumbling and unsafe. There are few jobs. Starvation is becoming a problem.

As infrastructure crumbles, the politicians begin buying votes directly — paying off the poor for their votes by giving them handouts monthly. Politicians can do that because they have successfully manipulated local election boards, putting their minions from the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers in jobs as "poll watchers" who stand around armed on Election Day, as close as three feet from voters. Texas recently tried (but failed) to pass a law on drive-through voting that would permit poll watchers to get into cars with voters.

Thanks to the disdain shown by Congress for anything deemed "socialism," medical coverage is nonexistent unless you purchase private insurance — and even then it isn't guaranteed. There is no hope of basic health maintenance, and you pray that no one in your family has to handle a medical emergency: Since you can't afford health care, they will likely die. Hospitals charge exorbitant fees because they too have to pay premium prices for water and electricity.

Public education is a shambles. People like Gov. Ron DeSantis in Florida fire independent school board members. Only those who accept the ruling party's political rhetoric are allowed to remain. Qualified teachers flee as pay becomes erratic.

Elections are run by party hacks who toe the line and place in office only sycophants who support the political ruling class.

If all that sounds too dystopian to believe, I'm here to tell you that such a country already exists, and routinely endures such calamities. That country is Lebanon, where everything described above is now daily life, because corrupt politicians have helped make it that way. Though Lebanon is a poor and developing nation, four of the 10 richest Middle Eastern men, according to Forbes, are Lebanese politicians. Lebanon is the smallest country in continental Asia, roughly the size of Connecticut. According to the World Bank, its current economic crisis is one of the worst in the world since the 19th century. On the surface, you might say that the U.S. has almost nothing in common with Lebanon. Look deeper.

Armed violence? Hell the U.S. has more private guns and arsenals than several nations in the developing world combined. A fear of everyday life and the fear of chaos? Yep. Got that. Divisive politics and the threat of violence from religious zealots? Yep. Faltering education, infrastructure problems and voter suppression? Check, check and check.

We've seen the threats of kidnapping and murder against government officials (just ask Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in Michigan) and we already have an exceptionally divisive media environment. All these things are necessary to breed the type of violence that consumes nations.

"The way civil wars were conducted in the past is not the way they are now," historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat told me for the podcast "Just Ask the Question." There won't be two standing armies fighting each other, she explained: "There will be sporadic outbreaks of violence, insurgencies — and we have that already."

We even share something else with Lebanon.

The nail through that nation's heart was driven two years ago. Emerging from 50 years of internal strife from a civil war and countless invasions by its neighbors, Lebanon hoped to leave its violent past behind.

On Aug. 4, 2020, a large amount of ammonium nitrate stored at the Port of Beirut exploded. The explosion resembled a small thermonuclear detonation. An estimated 7,000 people were injured, and 218 died. The explosion caused more than $15 billion in property damage and left 300,000 people homeless. Residents called it the "9/11 of Lebanon." Anyone who was alive in the area knows the incident well. It was felt throughout the country, registered as 3.3 on the Richter scale and was heard as far away as Cyprus.

Because news in Lebanon is unreliable, few there agree on what caused the explosion. While around the world it is commonly understood as a tragic and catastrophic accident, inside the country more diabolical theories have taken hold — and those stories have been used by insurance companies to keep from paying off claims. Russia, Syria and Israel play central roles in these supposed conspiracies to destroy Beirut, depending on where you get your information. The only thing everyone agrees upon is that two years later the city's downtown area, including the central shopping and government districts, remains largely empty. Most of the buildings that were destroyed or badly damaged have not been repaired or replaced.

Beirut, which was once described as the "Paris of the Middle East," now resembles a failed nation's sewage lagoon. More than 50 percent of the city's residents live below the poverty level. Many high-rise buildings were left incomplete or have been abandoned. Kids can be seen at night playing in the ruins. Just to conduct the recently concluded Lebanese Independent Film Festival in Beirut, organizers had to truck in generators and water to stage a three-day event. Festival organizer Gauthier Raad spoke defiantly about Lebanon's future. "We have to work together. That's what this festival demonstrates," he said. "We can't wait on handouts from anyone or expect others to fix our problems. We have to do it ourselves."

Fifty years of civil war, internal strife and stupefyingly corrupt government has reduced this tiny and beautiful country into a feudal empire, ruled by rich and increasingly dangerous politicians — many of whom have religious axes to grind. Those who preached hope have been assassinated. Lebanon has been conquered, liberated, invaded, bombed, trashed, raped, beaten, risen up and beaten down so much since the dawn of time it appears the world has grown weary dealing with it.

Imagine being a Lebanese citizen and surviving nearly two years, in some locations, without water, electricity or other basics. People sleep outside on the roof to try and stay cool. Former doctors and engineers hire themselves out as drivers and cabbies because they have cars and can drive around what few tourists dare come to the country, for meager fees that barely enable them to pay their bills.

We see the seeds of this ruin in the actions of the self-described "Trump Patriots" in the United States. We can see mainstream media courting the far right to make money, and promoting a "false equivalency" that further stokes the flames that could lead to a Lebanese-style dystopia in the U.S.

As recently as Wednesday, thousands found themselves stranded at the airport in Austin, Texas, when an unexpected underground equipment malfunction led to a power outage. "As I sit in the dark at the airport … with thousands of others who also wait on delayed flights due to an unexplained power outage," Cooper Hefner tweeted, "I can't help but think of the importance of investing federal funds to improve U.S. infrastructure."

Indeed.

Lebanon is tribally divided because there are 18 different religions in the country and the ruling class has exploited those differences to feather its own nest.

We are much too close to the same situation in the United States, where our tribal divisions are not only fueled by religion but also by racism, cynicism and misogyny.

Lebanon remains a friendly country, where even in villages like Bsharri (which means "house of truth" in Aramaic) you will find open doors and people who offer you coffee and conversation. For many of the older residents, who've seen violence and political strife come and go, there is little hope of change. "What can you do?" they ask visitors. The younger generation is a little more hopeful, as represented by the artists who organized, staged and contributed to the film festival.

In the United States, our divisions can make us wary of strangers and those who think differently. We threaten and jail them. Sometimes we shoot them or beat them.

Recent news stories highlight the jailing of pregnant women, threats of violence against African Americans and a Trump-appointed Supreme Court that has already taken away one long-guaranteed civil right and is now setting its sights on others.

When Michelle Obama appeared at the White House Wednesday for the unveiling of her portrait — alongside her husband, the former president — she became emotional about the national story that "includes every American," insisting that "our democracy is so much bigger than our differences."

The veracity of that statement is being tested every day. This fall's midterm elections will determine America's future for years to come.

The current plight of Lebanon remains one possible option, should the authoritarians prevail. Michelle Obama, among many others, remains hopeful it does not. Kathy Griffin has a point — but she isn't necessarily predicting the future.

One afternoon in college I found myself picking up trash at a Wendy's parking lot on the Business Loop in Columbia, Missouri.

I can't remember what happened the night before — no nefarious story there.

I simply cannot remember the mundane routine of most days compared to the shock of that one. It began as a beautiful sunny day. Warm. Calm. Nice. I picked up the trash as part of my employment requirements that afternoon and glanced up to enjoy the sun. I looked toward the horizon and in the sky saw what looked like a fat dark purple line drawn by a Sharpie marker.

I wasn't sure what I was looking at.

In a short time I found out. The squall furiously assaulted Columbia and sent the outdoor garbage cans I had just emptied, flying into the air like rockets.

Rain and hail exploded onto the ground; the combination caused near-immediate flooding and was responsible for broken windows, dented cars, downed trees, downed power lines and many damaged roofs.

As a lover of big weather, it was memorable.

As strong as it was, that storm is nothing compared to the political storm brewing this fall.

The future of the country is in the balance. Vegas oddsmakers could go either way. The latest polls, current conventional wisdom and some cautionary words for the GOP from Mitch McConnell (who stands out not only for his narcissism but also because he's one of the few Republicans who can count) suggest that the GOP may recapture the House while failing to take the Senate.

Trump followers, who've evidently studied the Beer Hall Putsch, believe the Trumplican party will be victorious and consume its enemies in hellfire, congressional hearings and a never-ending belittlement on conservative media. Some Republicans with gavel envy and a lust for power are reportedly looking at swatches for their new offices.

They preach civil war and destruction should they not prevail, or if Trump is denied a return to his golden throne. They say those things even as they drive their SUVs less than a mile to go grocery shopping, visit their doctors and hit the drive-through for their favorite cholesterol burger and then a convenience store for smokes and liquor.

No one's going to risk a real civil war while those things are readily available — not for a period of time longer than it takes to march to the Capitol and get arrested.

A recent NBC poll reports that "persuadable" voters — which means registered voters who are not core Democrats or Republicans — are "breaking toward the party controlling the White House and Congress," which would be the Democrats.

The Hill recently published an opinion piece that said the GOP's embrace of extremism has dimmed its midterm hopes. Perpetual Republican cheerleader Anne Coulter just announced the political demise of Donald Trump, using the words millions have already mouthed: "Trump is done."

Maybe she's right. Of course, we've heard all this before and that's part of the problem. When it comes to Trump, there's nothing new. It's just reruns and Trump's ratings are wearing thin. People are sick and tired of his pre-pubescent drama.

Every single person I spoke with in a month-long trip across the country said they'd "had enough" of the ongoing Trump melodrama. They want it canceled.

In a recent month-long trip across the country I visited 15 states and cities, from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C. Some were large, and some were as small as Millersburg, Missouri. Everywhere I visited, and every person I spoke with — more than 100 in 30 days — expressed exhaustion and frustration with politics. And while registered voters of both major parties blame both parties for the sorry state of affairs in this country (while failing to place the blame on themselves), every single person I spoke with said they've "had enough" of the ongoing Trump political melodrama. They want it canceled.

Finally, at a Mexican restaurant in Fulton, Missouri, I met a woman who said she was afraid there is no "United" left in the United States. She had spoken recently with a close relative in Kansas City and that relative was apparently equally fearful about the future.

"I'm just so tired of it all," she said to me. She blamed Trump for a lack of civility, as well as other politicians and, of course, the media.

Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course.

Progressives. Conservatives. Black. White. Immigrant. Hispanic. Male. Female. Gay. Straight. Trans. Rock n' Roll. Country. Bib overalls, G-Wagon, homeless or anything else. Everyone is tired of it. Well, except the ultra-rich. They're fine with it, since it doesn't adversely affect the bottom line, at least so far. But the rest of us are seriously exhausted by the vitriol in this country — vitriol we've all been intricately involved in creating. OK, some of us more than others.

Inflection point: Now.

The disgust with the lack of civility has converged with a growing anger brought about by the recent Supreme Court case reversing the 50-year-old Roe v. Wade decision. "The Catholics did that to us," one conservative Baptist told me in West Virginia. (Five of the six justices who voted to overturn Roe are conservative Catholics.) In Los Angeles, a rabbi told me, "I don't need to be preached to by other faiths about morality."

A "devoutly" conservative woman I spoke with from rural Kentucky was most poignant. Her niece had an abortion because of a life-threatening condition. A "close" family member had an abortion because of an unwanted pregnancy from an abusive common-law husband she later left.

"No one should tell us how to lead our lives," she explained to me. "That's what the Republicans used to be about. It was my body and my choice not to get vaccinated. The Republicans wanted government to leave us alone to make our own choices. But they don't want that anymore."

A growing number of people now understand the Republicans as a brazen group of feckless bullies. Welcome to the party. The woman I spoke with in Kentucky said something echoed by at least a couple dozen others I spoke with in the last month: "I don't usually vote. I am this year. I've already registered — and I'm not voting for a Republican."

That continues to be the key for the Democrats. If the voter turnout is large, then the Republicans are done, since there are more registered Democrats. Issues? The Republicans have already conceded on the issues. All the Republicans have left is fear — and that, like Trump, grows wearisome.

Elie Mystal, a writer for the Nation, said on Mary Trump's livestream show Tuesday that it comes down to whether or not white women have "had enough" with the Republican Party. He's not wrong. But it's not just white women who are ready to flee the GOP. It turns out people don't like it when a civil right they've taken for granted for the last 50 years is suddenly yanked away. Ironically, it is the Republican Party's greatest victory — the Dobbs decision, delivered by a politicized Supreme Court — that may prove to be its undoing.

Bottom line: Any person capable of cogent thought is fleeing Trump and the Republican party. Anne Coulter proves that even those not capable of cogent thought are fleeing Trump.

Trump is done. Trumpism? Well, waiting in the wings is Ron DeSantis, who already prides himself on limiting access to the media. Even those who love him hate him. Fortunately for the rest of the world — that is, the world outside Florida — DeSantis currently has the popularity of a malignant tumor. Of course, that's never stopped the Republicans. They excel at finding malignancies and helping them metastasize in the body politic.

* * *

I finished my travels this week with a visit to Annapolis.

There I saw the Reflecting Fools, the new political satire theater group that sprouted from the ashes of the Capitol Steps. The show left me feeling nostalgic for a future filled with education, science and a sense of humor.

I wasn't alone. One line delivered in a skit was met with thunderous applause. "Pay teachers more and Congress less" nearly got a standing ovation. It gave me hope that the United States may yet endure — if we can laugh at ourselves.

Trump can't do that, though he'd probably watch the show — he'll take any attention you throw his way — even when he's being mocked. DeSantis may be the true menace. He struggles to control media access with an il Duce like focus. Hell, when DeSantis frowns, he looks like Mussolini with hair.

A racial skit by the Reflecting Fools, featuring a Kermit the Frog impression, ended on a hopeful note: "We can all talk to each other civilly." It struck a resonant chord among the audience — a diverse, packed house with an average age of around 45, and at least progressive enough to laugh.

The show also featured a skit that posited that Democrats will prevail this November but still, somehow, find a way to "muck it up." It's long-running conventional wisdom that the Democrats will find a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, but this year it's in vogue to believe that Democrats, despite their propensity for self-immolation, have a real chance to win and solidify their majority in both houses of Congress. If that's what happens, Trump is done and the GOP is screwed.

If the Republicans could only understand that they did this to themselves. In the end, history might note it was the compulsive need for self-gratification that ultimately soured the most zealous of the Trump Republicans. It's one thing to get screwed. It's quite another to watch someone who wants to screw their own side more than they want to screw their supposed enemies; that's when it becomes too kinky.

There's little hope for what's left of the GOP. We're watching it die, in a coming tempest that will reshape the political landscape for a generation. It looks to be Ron DeSantis' party now — and he's a true menace.

Lindsey Graham will probably soon be an inmate in a rubber room, or wearing orange. Mark Meadows has gone MIA. Jim Jordan was recently seen on television sporting so much flop sweat that he looked like he just walked out of a college locker room. Jeffrey Clark got dragged out of his house in his pajamas. Rudy Giuliani is the target of a criminal investigation in Georgia. A 23-year-old assistant turned the tables on the former president in a highly publicized edition of the Jan. 6 hearings, and Donald Trump is apparently so upset that he's painting his walls with ketchup after being stupid enough not to return government documents — and lying about them repeatedly while also saying they were planted by the FBI and he declassified them anyway — maybe after he traded them for favors.

We are watching the Republican Party in its death throes.

That death is the nexus of a tempest that will reshape the political landscape for the next generation, and perhaps beyond. Whatever is left of the GOP looks to be DeSantis' party, and he's one of the most vile pieces of political excrement ever flung onto the scene.

So, yes — there is a storm coming. It's not a civil war. It's a reckoning — and I reckon the GOP would rather not face it. All the Democrats have to do is show up and vote, and the Republicans' beloved Supreme Court gave them an excellent reason to do so.

The FBI search of Trump's Mar-a-Lago home was merely an affirmation that those eager to flee the GOP needed, to let them know their instincts were right. When the facts are understood, Donald, it turns out that nobody likes a traitor.

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Liz Cheney is gone, at least from Congress. Her bid for re-election was thwarted in Wyoming by a Republican candidate whose lips are permanently sewn onto Donald Trump's backside — making her part of an all-too-real human centipede.

But it remains to be seen whether striking down Cheney destroys her, or makes her more powerful than we can imagine.

That's right: To some who swear the old Republican Party still exists, she is their Obi-Wan, struck down by the minions of Darth Trump.

Meanwhile, Joe Biden has delivered again this week, but he'll never get the credit for making the Kessel Run in under 12 parsecs. Every time Biden does something of note, he'll crow for an hour and then someone in the family comes down with COVID or someone on his communications team fumbles the ball, and we're back to square one. Biden has had more victories in Congress than Trump, and has presided over a country in peril with the countenance of a stoic scholar and the intestinal fortitude of a grunt crawling up Normandy Beach on D-Day. Yet his poll numbers are still incredibly low.

Watching his administration stumble through the minefield of the incredibly obtuse media landscape is like watching "The Bad News Bears" on acid — and yet, because of the horrifying nature of Trump and his troglodyte zombies, there is hope for a New Republic.

Less than three months before the midterm elections, the Democrats have some renewed energy, even though most of the conversation is still about Donald Trump. This is entirely by Trump's design. He craves attention and can't get enough of it, good, bad or — in most cases — extremely ugly. For those who remain concerned about the threat he continues to represent to the ideals of our democracy, concern about this attention is understandable. We'd like him to go away.

But like the drunken uncle at a neighborhood barbecue who exposes himself and vomits on the grill after downing too many beers, Trump is better at making a mess than at disappearing.

When it comes to those at the barbecue who still believe Trump to be a savior, instead of a menace or a nuisance, you have to wonder if they'll ever understand why he is a mockery of the system and not the one preserving it.

For the Christians among us, you can point to the Ten Commandments and, with a variety of salient facts, produce a scorecard showing that Trump has broken those commandments more prolifically than any American politician of this century or the last one. That won't be enough. It never has been. The Christians still love him — he's doing their bidding. They'll never budge.

Still, there has been some movement, and a growing number of people, including Fox News celebrity Laura Ingraham, say that America is "ready to turn the page on Trump," believing the Don's con is past its prime. At this point, those who don't get it are mocked and ridiculed by those who do, even if some of us prefer a different approach.

I want to know why you don't see. I want to know what it would take for you to believe differently. How is it that a rich man is able to more easily manipulate the criminal justice system than your average Midwest family farmer or inner-city homeless person — and why would you support that? I confess that I'm still curious about why exactly people feel so attracted to a living cancer.

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If we are truly a nation of laws, then the justice system has to work equally well for everyone. We all know it has not done so for a long time. But Donald Trump has put into stark relief the divide between those who wield power and those who have no power. He not only openly mocks the system and cheers his ability to avoid responsibility, but he has — in some circles — successfully deflected his sins and placed the blame on those who investigate and oppose him.

Trump isn't upset because the Justice Department is going on a witch hunt. He's upset because the Justice Department isn't treating him with the deference he believes his social and economic position entitles him to. Viewed one way, Donald Trump is receiving true justice. Viewed another way (at least by some on the left), the continuing investigation is just the rich and powerful turning on their own, which is why some believe he will never be brought to justice: The rich and powerful simply won't allow it.

But the truth is even more complicated. The investigation against Donald Trump is the ultimate test of the maxim that no one is above the law. It is why the investigation must continue, and will ultimately lead to the first state and/or federal indictment of a former president — at least according to former Trump attorney Michael Cohen.

He isn't the only one who sees the writing on the wall. Trump can see it too, and cryptically tried to contact Attorney General Merrick Garland recently to negotiate a truce, claiming that he didn't want something bad to happen to this country. If that's truly the case, Trump should walk into Garland's office and sign a confession concerning his many crimes against the state and its people.

But that will never happen. Trump's attempt to parlay with Garland was nothing more than a veiled threat from a man already known to be willing to turn to violence to achieve his ends. After the FBI served a search warrant on Trump's Mar-a-Lago property recently and found classified documents that Trump had previously claimed weren't there, you can bet Don is steamed.

It didn't stop him from using the raid to raise funds — so we also know that some part of the Donald loved the opportunity to bleed his supporters a little more. But what really worries Trump is the question: "Who snitched?" Who broke the Cosa Nostra oath of omertà?

Cohen and Mary Trump, the niece of his former boss, find themselves in agreement this week about who tipped off the federal government. Both have said publicly they believe it to be Jared Kushner.

But it isn't who tipped off the government, no doubt in order to save their own skin, that really matters, though that is no doubt driving Trump crazier than Vecna of "Stranger Things" mainlining fear and regret. What is more important is why Trump had classified documents stashed at Mar-a-Lago, after having an attorney tell the DOJ in June that he had no such documents.

Knowing Trump's previously documented propensity to use whatever he can to his advantage, one has to wonder if the documents he kept seemed to offer possible profit, possible leverage or both. We all know the way of Trump's madness; if he thinks something can benefit him, then he will grasp it tightly and use it at his whim.

But Trump has no overriding big plan, and never did. It's always been about survival by the seat of his pants, day after day, for a lifetime. His life is riddled with and dominated by fear; the fear of loneliness, while alone with his innermost demons and doing battle with a world he can't stand and doesn't understand. Hence his need to make everyone else fearful. He doesn't want to be alone. His status and privilege have given him an immense ability to affect others, which he does to suit his needs. If these were the actions of a six-year-old, we would tolerate the behavior — while trying to correct it before the child grows up to be another Donald Trump.

Trump's lack of parenting is, now unfortunately, a problem for all of us — proving once again that the privilege afforded the rich in this country is a bitter poison that we all end up having to swallow.

In Trump's case, the spoiled-rotten little shit has grown up to not only break every commandment but to become a pestilence, the seven deadly sins sprung to life in one morbidly obese and moribund robber baron.

When you think of Trump, think of Jabba the Hutt, but without Jabba's more endearing qualities.

George Conway likened Trump to a self-loathing and denying Cookie Monster this week, and he's not far from wrong. The temptation to lampoon such moronic behavior is powerful and, more importantly, accurate.

But for those who still believe, the criticism falls on deaf ears. So again I ask them: What is it that draws you to Donald Trump? He constantly demonstrates anything but Christian actions. Still, many conservative Christians openly mock the First Commandment in worshiping him. He's not poor, yet there are poor people who support him against their own self-interest. The same goes for some members of the LBGTQ+ community as well as women and minorities.

As more and more evidence falls into place, it becomes clearer than ever that Trump is a master of pride, greed, envy, wrath, lust, gluttony and sloth. He is a turgid garbage can of fear, always on the run — and most fearful of being caught and left alone out of the limelight. Mary Trump has said on several occasions that if Donald Trump were left in a room alone he would cease to exist. She's not wrong either.

I've often said that the best fate for Trump would be to become a blip in the road, forgotten by history, his name excised from public consciousness. But that's folly. Trump will gain a level of infamy due to his unique criminality that will, in some sense, give him the public recognition he so desperately craves. He will, unfortunately, be remembered by history, if perhaps in the same manner as Benedict Arnold (or more so), and that will ultimately be OK with Trump, because he so desperately needs to be remembered.

At the end of the day, whether he is praised or debased, he will be like Jack Sparrow: "You have heard of me." Sparrow, however, was a fictional parody. Trump is bad parody, made real.

With Cheney's ouster in Wyoming — losing her seat to a Trump acolyte by 37 points — the bad parody continues. For the moment, Donald Trump can cheer as he continues to grip the remnants of the Republican Party in his pudgy little fist, like a toddler who holds onto a chocolate bar until it melts. It's messy, it's sticky and ultimately it's gone.

Donald Trump wished for Cheney's downfall and actively plotted it, even though she sided with him in Congress more than 90% of the time. Trump needs to be careful what he wishes for, because Cheney, who is now eyeing a run for the presidency in 2024, could be more devastating as a GOP outsider than Trump can fathom.

Of course Trump continues to believe that he controls the Republican Party, and that those who don't follow him can be threatened, browbeaten and, if necessary, physically beaten. By God, according to Trump, there will be "Civil War."

Bullshit. There will be no Trump Civil War.

There will be sporadic outbreaks of violence. But if there was going to be a civil war, after the Mar-a-Lago search we would have seen protests and riots outside the White House and the Capitol. Instead, there were a half a dozen protesters outside Mar-a-Lago, most of them overfed locals who worship mac and cheese and Ron DeSantis and own at least one Confederate flag, perhaps tattooed in public or private places on their body.

That's what's left of the Trump legions: People who wear thongs and are mocked on social media when they go to Walmart.

It's still a scam — and if you don't get it, you're still the mark.

But make no mistake: Donald Trump cannot win. While his dwindling cadre of sycophants believe he can, a growing number of Americans perceive the truth.

As Elvis Costello told us, Yesterday's news is tomorrow's fish 'n' chips paper. Or, if you prefer the Star Wars treatment, Donald Trump isn't Obi-Wan. He's just Darth Maul. He looks scary, right up to the moment he gets cut in two.

There is no limit to the depths Donald Trump will explore to beg for money.

A day after the FBI executed a search warrant on his home at Mar-a-Lago, the former president sent out emails to his supporters saying the FBI had "raided" his home, "broke into" his safe and possibly planted evidence. Was he upset? Maybe. Was he innocent? Who cares? But he was open about needing money to help battle "the corrupt left," whatever that means. And so, dear friends and neighbors, the preacher in the big pop-up tent is going to pass around the hat, and if you'd very graciously give everything you have, the billionaire who needs your money would much appreciate it. By the way, would you like a new shirt with Donald's portrait? He's got those too.

Few would even have known Trump's residence in Florida was the subject of a search warrant had he not announced it to the world in order to make some money and stir up the rabble. The FBI has made no public statement about the search warrant and executed it as surreptitiously and professionally as possible. Trump, of course, said his home was under siege and as expected the Trumpers cackled like geese on the pond and threatened violence. Many probably eagerly gave him more money.

Make no mistake, the search of a former president's home — even though Trump wasn't there, and had no idea what the FBI did or didn't do while on site — is unprecedented. Trump was right when he claimed that no president has ever had that happen before — but then again, no president before Donald Trump had ever merited an FBI "raid."

The search warrant apparently has to do with 15 boxes of material (including some classified material) Trump took with him when he left the White House. Rumors have been heavy about what that information was, and what it would be used for — up to and including sharing it with those who shouldn't have it. The FBI not only had to provide substantial information that indicated a search was timely and necessary, but an independent judge had to sign off on the search. This is as serious as it gets.

It is also just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Donald Trump's alleged crimes — which includes actions taken prior to, during and after the Jan. 6 insurrection. It also includes election activities in Georgia and God only knows what else.

Stray mentally challenged Trumpers may be dangerous, but those still vaguely aware of reality are less interested in taking up arms for a whiny baby who wishes his generals were like Hitler's.

Trump, attempting to rally his rabble of disaffected supporters, has played the victim card at every opportunity. He screams "Deep State" and "Witch Hunt" so often, you just know they'll soon be featured on red MAGA hats that Trump will eagerly sell for just $25. Supplies are limited! Get them now! They're going fast!

The former president held the world captive while in office with his constant whining and ranting. Like a toddler in a high chair spilling his food while soiling his diaper, Trump has perfected the art of the whine. The far right is screaming "Civil war," and Trump eats it up.

Let them whine. They're as full of shit as he is. After five years of threats from Donald Trump, I can tell you one thing — the stray mentally challenged Trumper may be dangerous, but with so many of them facing prison time because of the insurrection, those who are still vaguely aware of reality are no longer so interested in taking up arms for a president who once wished his army generals were more like Hitler's.

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In short, Donald Trump's time on stage will soon be done. This week it was reported he is shopping for an attorney to defend him in a criminal case. Good luck. Trump doesn't pay anyone he hires, shoots his mouth off randomly, bullies those who work for him and hasn't, according to several DOJ sources, had an attorney worth a cup of warm piss since he drove the Trump bus over Michael Cohen at the beginning of his presidency. Maybe he can get the firm of Dewey Cheatum and Howe to defend him. Those three stooges are the best Trump can hope for.

Cohen tweeted out a smiling video cheering the DOJ after the FBI searched Trump's home, so I doubt Trump has a hope in hell of getting him back. Perhaps Rudy Giuliani will hold another press conference in front of a landscaping company to give us the latest. But then again, Rudy claims he's too infirm to go to Georgia to testify — so who knows.

Still, here's what we know: Not only is Trump coming to the end of the line, but he can no longer rely on his faithful rabble to scare people into leaving him alone. Moreover, it's doubtful there are enough of his faithful handmaidens left to do the job.

* * *

The clouds were thick. The air was hot and sticky. Nearby stood a tall oak tree. In a limb some 20 feet above the ground I saw a Trump flag, caked with dried mud and wrapped around a branch. There were clothes in another nearby branch and corrugated tin wrapped around the trunk.

Welcome to eastern Kentucky. It's a bastion of Trump support, inhabited by QAnon supporters, coal miners, climate change deniers and the assorted partially-educated working poor.

For some of those people, everything they owned was wrapped around the surviving trees or strewn across the road after the recently receded floods.

This area of Kentucky is dominated by the Daniel Boone National Forest and littered with small towns and unincorporated areas nestled around churches and small stores. In the late 1980s this same area was the site of "Operation Green Gray Sweep" — a state police effort to eradicate the marijuana crop, which in some places still rivals tobacco in popularity, and is still for some strange reason illegal in this state. It isn't uncommon for banks to hire private security at the end of the growing season as the local farmers deposit proceeds from their lucrative cash crop.

Yes, it's an area of conflict, hypocrisy, incongruity and amazing contradictions. While churches are common, Christianity isn't. Religion in the area is used as both a cloak and a dagger by politicians, moralists and the denizens of the rural countryside.

Joe Biden toured eastern Kentucky on Monday to see the flood damage caused by intense thunderstorms, right on the heels of a congressional vote on landmark legislation to combat climate change — which has hit eastern Kentucky citizens hard, even if many of them completely deny it exists.

"It's unfortunate. It's my second visit to Kentucky for a crisis," Biden said. "I promise you… as long as it takes, we're going to be here. We [the federal government] are committed. There's absolute 100 percent coverage of cost for the next few months."

Few presidents have confronted as much irrationality as Joe Biden. Fewer still have successfully done so. You can argue about education, gerrymandering and religion, but you can't fix stupid.

It took a set of balls neither Trump, Josh Hawley nor Mike Pence have ever had for Biden to show up in the middle of Trump country and declare he has empathy for citizens who are suffering, and who mostly hate him. Biden did that, and there were some I spoke with in the small towns throughout the region who appreciated it.

Remember, this is an area of the country that lives and dies on the latest accomplishments of the University of Kentucky Wildcat basketball team. Legendary Wildcat shooting guard Rex Chapman, or "Sexy Rexy," is a traitor to some of these people because of his progressive stances on social media. Yet as one man told me, "He's one of our own. We love him to death," adding, "but I wouldn't let him in the house any more. He's part of the Deep State."

At an airport in rural Kentucky there hung two flags, according to pool reports: One that said "F**k Biden" and another declaring support for Trump in 2024. But the vitriol against Biden is waning here, as is the fealty to Trump. "Trump is just a sore loser liar," I was told by a shop owner outside Hazard. "I voted for him twice. I love him. But he's a con man. He's a liar like every other politician. He lost and he can't admit it."

Near Richmond, I spoke with a man who said, "Trump was the best. What happened? I saw the [Jan. 6 committee] hearings. He's crap."

The hearings have slowly seeped into the national consciousness and conscience, separating the Trump reality from his fiction. This week's search at Mar-a-Lago will go further to do so. "They wouldn't do that search if they didn't have a reason," I was told by the same man who claimed he loved Trump.

In Missouri, where Sen. Josh Hawley is now routinely mocked by some of the farmers and rural citizens who voted for him, the infrastructure bill, the Jan. 6 hearings and other signs of normalcy are sinking Trump's potential political future into a thick morass of meaningless mediocrity. "I'd like Biden to get inflation under control, but it's been more peaceful with him around. Nobody seems as angry," I was told. "And there's nothing wrong with building roads and bridges."

Biden's influence may actually be growing outside the Beltway, even as he gets pummeled by critics and members of the D.C. press corps. In a trip across the country during the last week, everywhere I drove there were fewer signs of angry Trump supporters. On I-64 in southern Illinois, just last year I saw enormous Trump flags, flanked by bales of hay and American flags, on at least three separate sites. You couldn't drive more than a few miles without seeing pickup trucks cruising around with huge Trump flags anchored in the truck bed. I saw none of that over the last few weeks. Trump, when he's spoken about at all, is usually mentioned dismissively. There are definitely folks who will defend him when you ask, but the energy and vitriol once attached to his name are gone.

Instead, you hear the normal chant of "All politicians lie," and "I hate the president."

Trumpism, it appears, is receding like the Kentucky flood waters, just when Trump needs his supporters the most.

* * *

Wherever Trump is this morning, the walls are probably painted in ketchup and broken china. His yellow, dilated eyes are evidence of his growing fear. The combination of terror, sweat and expelled body fluids have combined to make his turgid, fetid nest smell like Satan's outhouse. His fear is palpable and a big part of that fear is that he doesn't know what the Justice Department knows. That's why he wants someone, anyone, to tell the world what the FBI is up to.

There are those, particularly Trump and his supporters, who would like to see Attorney General Merrick Garland and the FBI address the search of Mar-a-Lago now, in a news conference. I am not one of those. I am content to let the wheels of justice grind on in their natural course because, having spent four years covering Donald Trump, I know where this will inevitably lead: to his prosecution, conviction and imprisonment.

Trump demands attention, and demands an explanation, because he wants to get in front of the coming calamity. But he cannot avoid the reckoning he is due, no matter how much he cries. Garland is a meticulous, smart prosecutor who won't give Trump the fuel he wants to ruin the prosecution. Careful, stealthy and quiet is the perfect way to investigate Trump, who is careless, bombastic, loud and rude.

Remember Trump is a hollow man and we all know how they end: "Not with a bang, but with a whimper."

Trump is whimpering not just because the world is catching up with him but because his lifelong grift is nearing its end. The world is putting him in its rearview mirror.

He sees it. He knows it. He fears it. And ultimately, he can't escape it.

He's done.

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Breaking news! (No, not really.)

It's just a little more than 100 days before the midterm elections, and the Republicans are outwardly giddy and chittering like rabid field mice.

Conventional wisdom — a questionable term — has the Republicans taking back the House in the midterm elections this fall. The idea has risen like cheap champagne in the putrescent bowels of the Republicans. Hell, they're so light-headed with their possible success they'll even tolerate Matt Gaetz publicly and historically embarrassing himself — yet again.

That is, unless you're Marc Short, the former staffer to Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison who became Mike Pence's chief of staff. On CNN this week, Short flayed Gaetz into small morsels with an honest and sardonic description of the Florida congressman as Donald Trump's latest favorite fool. CNN aired a soundbite of Gaetz speaking to a youthful crowd, where he dismissed Pence as a nice guy who will never be president because he's no leader. Then Short got his shot — live.

He quickly slowed the congressman's roll, reminding everyone that Gaetz has more serious problems to worry about. "I don't think Matt Gaetz will have an impact" on the 2024 election," Short said. "In fact, I'd be surprised if he was still voting. It's more likely he'll be in prison for child sex trafficking by 2024, and frankly I'm surprised law enforcement lets him speak to teenage conferences like that."

For those who are unsure: Yes, that was a mic drop.

Those who are even casually acquainted with Short know him to be something sorely lacking in the rest of the Republican Party. He's an adult. A professional. He makes sense, and he's immune to Trump as well as the groans and mutterings of Trump's latest flailing acolytes. In fact, he made it quite clear that, at least in Gaetz's case, he just doesn't give a shit what the future federal prisoner has to say.

If the GOP had more men like Short, there'd be far fewer like Trump. And such a revelation would frighten the Democrats — that is, if the Democrats were seen by a larger number of Americans as being in serious contention to hang on to the House.

Those who think the Democrats will win are a little busy right now eating their own, once again. Let's move along.

* * *

I went to one great Christmas party on the South Lawn during the last days of the Clinton administration. That's the highlight of my time covering presidents, presidential campaigns, traveling with candidates and listening to endless recitations of mostly horrible stump speeches while eating fast food of questionable quality and origin. I swallowed my fair share of insects, I'm sure, on some of the campaign stops on pig farms in Iowa. Saw some strange things too. I remember Jesse Jackson sitting in a stall with an Iowa pig farmer. It was a cold winter's day, but the pungent smell of the farm was thick and on everybody's mind as dozens of us in the press watched Jesse sit and talk with the farmer. I believe both men were wearing overalls. But the farmer, who sat talking for several long minutes about political issues (remember those?) was wearing a Confederate flag baseball hat. Jackson, a veteran of the civil rights movement and good friend of Martin Luther King Jr., got along with him just fine. That sticks in my mind.

So does watching Gary Hart stumble badly at his first public appearance after he turned himself into a political pariah. He showed up at a pig farm, wrestled with a few swine, fell into the muck and grabbed a piglet, which gave off some piercing squeals. It was embarrassing, and he knew it. There were maybe half a dozen reporters and photographers in attendance. A month previously, Hart had been the 1988 Democratic frontrunner, followed around by dozens if not hundreds of reporters. Now he was an also-ran. Why? Here it is, boys and girls: Don't issue the "Gary Hart" challenge to the press corps — no matter how incompetent you think we are — especially if you're a liar.

Hart fell from grace after being photographed with a paramour. Today Trump would call him an amateur, but the deliciously salacious irony of finding the 1988 Democratic presidential frontrunner with a woman who wasn't his wife on his arm was too much to pass up. That happened because of what Hart told the press. Rumors had circulated for weeks that he had ongoing affairs outside of his marriage. His response to the press when asked about them? He challenged reporters to follow him. "They'll be very bored," he said publicly.

A few days later, NBC anchor John Chancellor answered that on the air, "We did. We weren't."

Thus ended Gary Hart's political ambitions.

Democrats eating their own is an old and repetitious story. A frontrunner taking himself down with one sentence? Priceless.

The Democrats claim to have moved on, but former Sen. Al Franken was forced to resign over a sexual accusation that seems like a preschool watery nose compared to the warped shit people like Gaetz and his demented mentor, Donald Trump have been accused of.

Today, at every conceivable turn, from Steve Bannon being found guilty of ignoring a congressional subpoena to the revelations of the Jan. 6 committee hearings, the Republicans are taking it on the chin. The pain is real. So with all the bad press the Republicans have received, you'd think the Democrats could run a flatlining squid for office and still retain control of the House.

But as it turns out, only the Republicans have that bizarre ability. That is the only way to explain the likes of Lindsey Graham, Jim Jordan, Matt Gaetz, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert. Five squid — spineless, thoughtless, ignorant and brain-dead. Some question whether they were ever sentient. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt: the critics, I mean. It's true: Republicans can run dead squid for office and still win.

Democrats are protesting against themselves — and then yelling at themselves for protesting themselves. They can't stay focused, but are pissed at the media for not staying focused.

The Democrats, meanwhile, remain true to form. They are protesting against themselves, and then yelling at themselves for protesting themselves. They're unable to remain focused, yet remain pissed at the media for not staying focused. They have a point there. We have trouble these days recognizing facts in some quarters, let alone distributing them. Lately, a day in the White House press briefing room is as intellectually stimulating as a day in high school study hall.

Should the Republicans prevail in the fall, many voters (and not just Democrats) won't necessarily like the people they've just elected. That sentiment is common, and a lot of people rationalize it by hoping newly elected members of Congress will "grow into the role." But that's a fool's paradise. The stunted emotional growth of the Republican Party leaves anyone who's still in it not only incapable of growing into anything other than a pair of pants with a much wider waistband, but incapable of seeing how bloated, distended, cancerous and distasteful their party has become. Did Donald Trump "grow into his role"? There's your reality. He only grew more effective at abusing the system. Gaetz and the rest are merely appendages of the Trump hydra.

There is no GOP any more. Just Trump and those modeled after him, many of whom are ready to fight for control of the party once Trump leaves. To them the party is everything. Yet it stands for nothing.

You can thank Ronald Reagan for that — a former B-movie actor cast in the role of a lifetime. Reagan was the first reality-show president. Donald Trump and the current GOP are merely his bastard offspring. I mean politically, of course. I have no proof of anything else.

Reagan embraced the free market and trickle-down economics. The result of 40 years of those policies? Well, it isn't a good look for the United States. It's becoming too Third World. But Reagan and those who followed him were never about helping people — unless you mean rich, powerful people. In a move labeled by historian Joseph McCartin "The Strike That Busted Unions," Reagan destroyed the air traffic controllers' union in 1981, undermining the whole labor movement. Reagan's actions while in office enabled the re-emergence of robber barons, drooling with a lustful and narcissistic longing for every dollar they could make at the expense of everyone else.

It turns out Marc Short recently testified before a grand jury investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection. So maybe Merrick Garland is methodically and quietly gunning for Trump after all.

Most former Republicans view the Reagan years as the good old days. Before the dark times. Those left today in the Republican Party certainly don't care about Reagan, whom they view as too liberal. Most of the oafs left in the Republican Party think they're the real-life version of Billy Batts, the mobster played by Frank Vincent in "Goodfellas." They are faux bullies with no heart, only a head for the fight and no care for anything but the shallowest of victories. They love "owning the libs" and telling them, "Now go get your shine box." That's a great line, but the Republicans never see past that line — and neither do most Americans. Billy Batts ended up in the trunk of Henry Hill's car after being beaten, shot and stabbed. It wasn't a good look. Neither is the Republican Party.

But never fear. The Donner Party had a better chance of survival than the current Republicans. Why? Because Marc Short did a lot more than just call out Matt Gaetz on CNN this week.

Short became one of the highest-ranking former members of the Trump administration to testify before a grand jury investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection. Other revelations this week suggest that Attorney General Merrick Garland is methodically and quietly gunning for Donald Trump.

The noose is tightening. This isn't going down easy.

As it turns out, Donald Trump may have accomplished something Gary Hart couldn't. Trump did to the Republican Party what Hart only did to himself.

This would be the part of the story, if you were writing a Hollywood ending, where truth, justice and Captain America (played by Merrick Garland) would prevail. But we are talking about Donald Trump and the Republicans. They're hoping this is a dark comedy or a horror story, and that Soldier Boy and Homelander will prevail.

We have a little more than 100 days left to find out. There's just that much time before the most important election of our lifetime.

Don't look at the miserable miscreants in the Republican Party. Ignore the Democrats eating their own, as usual. Give Garland a chance to do his job.

Right now the question is: What are you going to do about it?

Donald Trump missed his calling.

He should've been an Adderall-stoked tour director on a spring-break bus loaded with drunken college kids: "Be there, will be wild!"

He would've been obnoxious, and noxious — but mostly harmless. Declawed, defanged and destructive, but ultimately forgotten by history.

Our Donald, being the rage-fueled, narcissistic, power-mongering loser that he is, cannot go gentle, genteel or gentile into that good night. So he used his God-given talent for blatant hucksterism in some twisted Darth Vader moment on Dec. 19, 2020. He tweeted out a call to arms for a "Big Protest in D.C. on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!"

If he had only thought to set up a turnstile and charge $25 a pop for admission, it would have been — in his warped, Swiss-cheese mind — perfect.

But nothing in this world is perfect, and Donald Trump is living proof of that every day he sucks in air and expels noxious vapor.

Trump of course was known, before stumbling into the presidency, mostly as a Hollywood sideshow; a poser who would show up in cameos, as he did in "Home Alone." That changed when he took center stage in 2004 on the show "The Apprentice." There he reached a convergence of his ego, his need for attention and his relentless grifting. He went primetime in a reality show that was known for being long on show and short on reality. "You're fired" was his catchphrase.

People ate it up, of course. And his timing was fortuitous. "Frasier" and "Friends" had anchored the Thursday night comedy lineup that began on NBC with "Cheers" in the '80s. Those shows left. Trump took over a 9 p.m. time slot and did fine with it. Some thought his show to be parody — like a sketch on "Saturday Night Live" — thus the inclusion in the Thursday night lineup. But it wasn't comedy. It was tragedy; Don the Con took himself seriously. His greatest con job? He conned himself.

His run for the presidency was both a revenge tour for Barack Obama slighting him at a White House Correspondents dinner and, as his former fixer Michael Cohen put it, "the best infomercial in history — to raise the profile of the Trump brand."

No one was more surprised than Trump when he actually won. After calling the White House a dump when he settled in, he gradually grew to love the seat of power on Pennsylvania Avenue. Many scandals and grifts later, he didn't want to give it up. Where "The Apprentice" gave him a taste of notoriety, the White House fed Trump's massive ego and narcissistic desires as only the office of the presidency can. "He only cared for himself," Cohen warned us. Cohen was right.

He was also right in warning us that Trump wouldn't accept a peaceful transfer of power, but by the time the 2020 election rolled around a majority of the American people had had enough of the orange-hued con man and voted him out. Trump didn't want to go, would never admit he lost and fought like a sewer rat with a rancid piece of pizza in his mouth to stay. Thus he "would galvanize his followers, unleash a political firestorm and change the course of our history as a country," as Rep. Jamie Raskin told us in the latest Jan. 6 hearing on Tuesday.

Complicit in Trump's attempt to overthrow the government he ran were social media platforms like Twitter. Employees have said they knew they were amplifying calls to violence. Nothing was done. Many on Trump's staff knew Trump had lost the election and did nothing to stop him from trying to stage a coup. No one stopped him. Cassidy Hutchinson, the aide to Mark Meadows who would later offer bombshell testimony before the Jan. 6 committee, tweeted out "The West Wing is UNHINGED." I never knew the West Wing to be hinged — at least not while Trump was there.

More importantly, the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers knew what Trump wanted; a big bright fiery show. A dramatic takeover. A rousing third act. "It's time for the DAY OF THE ROPE! WHITE REVOLUTION IS THE ONLY SOLUTION," read one tweet. "Cops don't have 'standing' if they are laying on the ground in a pool of their own blood," read another.

Ironically, the committee read that tweet in front of a packed house that included several of the officers injured and traumatized on Jan. 6, 2021.

"Why don't we just kill them," or "We need volunteers for the firing squad," were tweets also shared by those who rioted. "Is the 6th D-Day? Is that why Trump wants everyone there?" asked another. Indeed he did. Mike Flynn, Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell (whose videotaped testimony about sedition was casually offered between swigs of Diet Dr. Pepper) encouraged the riot, according to witnesses, in a six-hour-long argument on Dec. 18 that went from room to room in the White House. Giuliani accused those who recommended Trump end his fight of being "pussies."

Judd Deere, the only member of Trump's press staff universally trusted by members of the press, testified that Trump was typically Trump that day — refusing to give in and acting as if he could by sheer force of his gnarled ego stay in office. He left the outside door to the Oval Office open so he could bask in the glow of people shouting his name.

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Then, on Jan. 6, Trump let the crowd on the Ellipse know he meant business. He showed up and encouraged them to storm the Capitol. He screamed, "Fight! Fight! Fight!" as if he were a high school cheerleader.

This was Trump at the height of his power. His four years of fascism culminated in a violent group assembled in our nation's capital set on destroying the rule of law and installing Trump as dictator, with powers to destroy the Constitution.

For seven episodes now, the Jan. 6 committee hearings have proven to be far better television than Trump ever created on "The Apprentice" — and part of him no doubt loves the attention. Hell, he probably bathes in it. He's a hit!

But his niece, Mary Trump, told me this week that her uncle, for the first time in a long time, is truly afraid. "Though I'm concerned if anything will be done," she said. Perhaps that fear is why he's tried to reach out to potential witnesses. Rep. Liz Cheney fired a shot across Trump's broad bow Tuesday afternoon — warning him not to try any more witness tampering — after she announced he had tried to call someone who has not yet testified.

Congress, responding to Trump's own masterful manipulation of the media, has learned a thing or two. Raskin said Watergate was like a "Cub Scout meeting" compared to the Trump scandal. He's right. But the Watergate hearings were campfire storytelling compared to the "Stranger Things" production of the Trump hearings. Hell, this production could win an Emmy. It's masterful, especially in the hands of Raskin. It's one of the best-scripted live documentaries ever made — complete with cliffhangers and previews of the next exciting, terrifying and eventful episode. All that's missing are the after-credit scenes. Maybe we'll see Trump in irons after the last hearing. Who knows?

There are those who still fear that will never happen. Mark Meadows, it is reasoned, will eventually take the fall for Trump. But Liz Cheney is coming for Trump, and I wouldn't want to get in her way. While Mary Trump isn't a fan of Cheney's politics, she too says Uncle Donald has every reason to be afraid. Cheney is everything Donald Trump can't handle — an intelligent woman immune to his charms and threats, who has the facts on her side as she pursues the Mind Flayer.

"Trump is a 76-year-old man," Cheney reminded us, not "an impressionable child," and he "is responsible for his own actions and choices." Trump can't hide behind his minions. He knew the election was not stolen. "No rational or sane man could ignore this and come to another conclusion," she added, then concluded that Trump "cannot escape by being willfully blind."

You've never needed to convince me or the many disinterested third-party observers who went to the Capitol on Jan. 6 to witness that sad day in our history. I felt safer in Ukraine during a war. I knew where the enemy was and I could protect myself. None of us knew who among those at the Capitol was friend or foe that day.

Donald Trump led, encouraged and planned that insurrection, and loved watching it. It was his magnum opus. His aria. His version of Beethoven's "Ode to Joy." He relished in it. It was theater for Trump — as his entire life has been. Taking a page from Donald's playbook, the Jan. 6 committee is using theater to expose his wretchedness.

Donald Trump is a garbage can brought to life. He is the bottom of a dumpster that hasn't been cleaned for a lifetime, sprung to life as a living pestilence. He appeals to your darker angels. He gives people permission to be as horrible as they want to be. The Jan. 6 hearings are slowly backing him into a corner, connecting the dots and exposing his vicious, seditious activities for the anti-democratic crap they truly are.

Trump is a fascist. Trump is a liar. Trump is dangerous. Ultimately Trump is a traitor to the ideals enshrined in our Constitution. The seventh hearing on this fetid stench leaves just one important question unanswered: Will the Department of Justice indict Trump, Mark Meadows, Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Jeffrey Clark, Sidney Powell and others?

It is obvious that Liz Cheney, by mentioning the DOJ at the close of this week's hearing, believes that indictments are forthcoming. There are those who still doubt it and who believe Attorney General Merrick Garland is not up to the task. But the 32 federal lawmakers I've spoken with since Tuesday all believe Trump's indictment will be coming. "It has to, or this means nothing and as a country we are done," one told me.

So how did Trump respond on Wednesday?

He sent out emails promoting his Trump "commemorative" golf balls along with one encouraging his supporters to buy authentic "Trump Ultra Maga Shirts," for just $45.

The grift goes on — stay tuned for the next exciting episode.

I must confess that I've written things in the last two days I never thought I'd write — at least not in a work of nonfiction.

For example: In my most feverish nightmares I never dreamed I'd have to tell people that a former adviser to the president, a decorated retired U.S. Army general with years of service to his country under his belt, would take the Fifth Amendment when asked by a Republican member of Congress, "Do you believe in a peaceful transfer of power?"

Mike Flynn did.

Sure, many people consider Flynn an idiot. I also never thought I'd hear a witness tell us that the president of the United States blurted out, "Just say the election was corrupt and leave the rest to me and the Republican congressmen."

A witness heard Donald Trump say that. Of course, many think Trump is an idiot as well.

And I certainly never thought I'd hear about a president becoming enraged over not being allowed to join an insurrection by armed assailants at the U.S. Capitol. Trump did that too. Not even the Secret Service disputes that fact. Whether or not Trump actually tried to wrestle the steering wheel from his driver as he lunged at him is the only fact in dispute — and guess what, if you know Trump that isn't much of a stretch either. But that's not the point. He wanted to go. Who in their worst alcohol-induced, Adderall-laced, psychotic-hallucinogenic rage would ever dream of having to report this? Not I, said the cat.

RELATED: What Cassidy Hutchinson told us — and why we should have known it already

If you don't realize it yet, the nation is at war with itself. Call it what you want, but if you don't recognize that simple fact, then you're doomed to go down without a fight. And that's fine with Donald Trump, Mike Flynn, Steve Bannon, Jeffrey Clark, John Eastman, Rudy Giuliani et al., who have fought hard for a Trump authoritarian regime and won't support a peaceful transfer of power.

That's got our northern neighbor, Canada (remember Canada?), wondering whether they'll need to erect a border wall to keep out Americans fleeing our fascist state.

Make no mistake, what we face here is a potential tyranny of the minority. For those who seek to overturn our democratic ideals under the guise of freedom, while wrapping themselves in the flag, it is all about fear and trust. They want you to fear the wrath of their imaginary God and trust them — though they obviously trust no one else. Strong with them is the dark side.

Donald Trump partnered with the most atavistic of all humans to get elected. He played the useful fool for them as they fed him an agenda he couldn't have cared less about, since he only cared about power. And Trump's power was always in promoting his brand. In God we trust — all others pay cash. That's all the trust he understands.

But his minions, like Sen. Mitch McConnell from the Commonwealth of Kentucky, want you to trust in a God billions of people on the planet don't recognize and the "good old days," circa 1920, that never existed. It was a time filled with hate, prejudice and fear — themes the Republicans enjoy and promote — and have leveraged to set the Supreme Court back more than 50 years.

We are left with a country whose most hallowed ideals have been hollowed out, swallowed and regurgitated as an empty mantra. It is apparent that we are struggling with the simple notion that we are a nation of laws. In one of the most valiant efforts of my lifetime, it is Republicans who are dominating the witness stand during the House Jan. 6 hearings, providing the most salient testimony against members of their own party who are guilty of so many crimes they make the mob flush with envy. This is all going on in congressional hearings run by Democrats who are eagerly assisting those Republicans in telling the truth. This is bipartisanship at its most enlightened — or at least as close as we can get to it in this reality.

Those Republicans, like the Democrats guiding the hearings, should be lauded for their efforts. Every other Republican, especially those who sought pardons after the Insurrection — or in the case of Matt Gaetz, the feckless frat boy perpetually picked last for kickball, before the insurrection — should be prosecuted, removed from Congress and condemned to daily cleanup duty in cockroach-infested Mar-a-Lago for eternity.

Donald Trump told us, "I don't care if they have weapons, they aren't here to hurt me."

That's another sentence I never thought I'd write.

Trump's response to Tuesday's hearing was entirely typical. He said on his social media platform that he hardly knew who surprise witness Cassidy Hutchinson was (as if that had any bearing on her ability to witness his inappropriate actions) and that she was a "complete phony." Later that day he sent out several emails to his supporters asking for more donations and discounts on a variety of swag he keeps pushing.

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Trump's retort is similar to when Rep. Paul Gosar literally shouted, "Liar, liar, pants on fire" at Michael Cohen, after Cohen's testimony before Congress in 2019. It is juvenile.

There is no way to dismiss the spoiled-child nature of Trump's senior staff and supporters. They are much like their boss — and Trump encourages that behavior. Though these are usually men anywhere from their mid 40s to their late 60s, they act less like adults and more like recalcitrant children who just wet their pants when their wet nurse isn't around to change their soiled undies.

Juxtapose that with Hutchinson. She is 25, younger than my youngest son, and she acted more like an adult than almost everyone else in Trump's administration, who by the way made a hell of a lot more money and lived in relative splendor, compared to a junior White House staffer.

But character is what counts, and Cassidy Hutchinson is far richer in that than Mike Pence, Pat Cipollone, Jim Jordan, John Eastman, Rudy Giuliani, Mike Flynn or any of the other freaks traveling in Dr. Trump's Wild West show. She was quiet and professional as she testified before Congress. She was the one thing Trump never has been — an adult. Her testimony is destined for the history books, and she is the greatest testament yet that it's time for the geriatric crowd to give up their hold on government in favor of younger, more vibrant yet even more grown-up voices. She's also a testament to good legal counsel — but that's another story.

The essence of Hutchinson's testimony boiled down to witnessing Trump, his chief of staff Mark Meadows and other senior officials trying to bring about a tyranny of the minority. Hutchinson said she came to her job at the White House bright-eyed and eager to cheer for Trump's policies. That was a naïve hope.

I spent four years covering that administration and I am unaware of any actual policy it pursued. Then and now, Trump's only goal is to increase his personal revenue and power at the expense of anyone and everyone else. Hutchinson came to the administration closer to the end of Trump's run than the beginning, and it didn't take her long to catch on.

"I was really saddened as an American. I was disgusted. It was unpatriotic. It was un-American. We were watching the Capitol get defaced over a lie," she testified.

This has had a predictable effect on the QAnon crowd, not unlike smacking a hornet's nest with a baseball bat. It won't be long before Hutchinson is accused of drinking baby blood or being a lizard alien. But another former Trump chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, defended her. "I know her. I don't think she's lying," he said.

Some called her appearance the "John Dean" moment in these hearings, referencing Richard Nixon's former White House counsel, who testified before the Watergate committee. But Dean says it more accurately resembled testimony by Alexander Butterfield, until that moment a relatively obscure deputy assistant. "In both cases they were surprise witnesses and had testimony that changed the direction of the hearings," Dean explained. Otherwise, he said, the two hearings have little in common.

"Watergate was so different and so mild. Nixon could at least experience shame," he said. After Watergate "I hoped we would not have another authoritarian president," Dean continued, "but the antiquated Electoral College, which is supposed to prevent these things from happening, gave us Donald Trump."

That would be the guy who shouted that he was "the fucking president" while urging the Secret Service to drive him to the Capitol.

With Donald Trump, it is always about him and it always has been. Hutchinson testified to witnessing the aftermath of a Trump tantrum that ended up with broken plates and ketchup on the wall. Michael Cohen spoke of numerous tantrums from a man "who never got into a fistfight his whole life," but used his temper to get his way — much like a toddler.

And there we are; a young woman, in her early 20s at the time, acting more responsible than the baby-boomer president she served. As a parent, I confess, I would be very proud of what she did.

The Jan. 6 committee hearings are the last chance we have of excising the primary infection that has spread to become a Donald Trump cancer. Should we fail, this country is headed down a very dark road, paved by the actions of a Supreme Court that has ignored well-established legal precedent in order to enact laws bound by religious beliefs and contrary to the will of the majority of Americans. The effect is to destroy the rule of law and place justice in the hands of those who oppose democracy.

Filtered through that light, Cassidy Hutchinson took on the whole authoritarian movement — not just Donald Trump — when she stepped up and testified this week.

How could a parent not be proud of that? Americans are a curious lot, I grant you. We are filled with foibles and fears, and at times the feckless fools seem to run amok. Then you see a young woman doing what we were all raised to do: Defend the rule of law. Testify honestly. Act rationally. Stand up. If that doesn't give you hope, brothers and sisters, then I don't know what will.

Now would be the time for another surprise witness: Pat Cipollone. (Well, OK: He was subpoenaed on Wednesday.) The former White House counsel is a fellow Kentucky-schooled, Roman Catholic brother. He has 10 children, a few of them approximately the same age as Hutchinson, including a daughter who once worked as a Fox News booker for Laura Ingraham. Maybe by following Hutchinson's example, Cipollone could offer an example for his own children regarding Christian integrity. "I think he's worried about losing Republican clients if he testifies," Dean explained. "They believe in retribution. He's worried about that when he should be worried about democracy."

Finally, I once again find myself having to write sentences I never thought I'd write — until today:

On Tuesday, the House Committee hearings into the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection saw surprise testimony from former Mark Meadows aide Cassidy Hutchinson. She testified that former President Donald Trump tried to commandeer a presidential SUV to join and lead a group of anti-democratic insurrectionists. Concurrent with her testimony and following it, Donald Trump sent emails to his supporters asking for donations while announcing an upcoming rally in Anchorage, Alaska.

It's a short flight from Anchorage to Russia. Is that where he's headed next?

He'd probably be thrilled if he were asked to go. He's still a sucker for any type of attention.

And so it came to pass that in the Year of Our Lord 2022, logic and facts left the room and the Republican Party replaced them with "We've got lots of theories, we just don't have the evidence."

This is the postmodern world, devoid of reason and chock-full of stooges like Donald Trump, John Eastman and Rudy Giuliani. It is the world we were warned about by Michael Cohen in a 2020 Rolling Stone article: "I believe that he would even go so far as to start a war in order to prevent himself from being removed from office. My biggest fear is that there will not be a peaceful transition of power in 2020."

It is a world where Trump's allies in the Supreme Court have eroded the separation of church and state so thoroughly that in the near future we could be living in a fascist Christian state. Jack-booted thugs will roam free and anyone who does not present as a God-fearing white Christian heterosexual will have more to fear from the government thugs stomping your neck than from the vengeful God to whom the dimwitted believers pray.

The only thing standing in the way of this dystopian, dyspeptic destruction is the Jan. 6 hearings, and this week we found out in cinematic detail how members of that committee are trying to stave off the end of democracy.

In the latest installment of this real-world drama, as in pretty much every other episode, a preponderance of the witnesses have been Republicans. It's as if the few Republicans left with the capability of reason are engaged in an epic struggle to vomit up the Donald Trump poison that has infected the party's other members. The Democrats, most of whom have never imbibed the Trump brand of poison, have realized how close we are to the edge and thus are trying to assist their colleagues across the aisle. (For those who need a historical reference, this is called putting your country before your party — a founding principle of our nation.)

How serious is this move to protect our country? Christian members of the Republican Party have also come forward, confessing their sins and imploring their friends not to follow the false prophecies of Donald Trump. These are some of the very same Christians who supported most of Trump's policies, of course — and were often denigrated for it in more liberal social circles.

Yet even some of those who supported Trump on nearly every occasion have drawn the line at what he did on Jan. 6, 2021.

What did those who have testified before the committee hope to gain by their appearance? Merely to belong to a group of citizens of the United States who labored to ensure that our democratic process worked as intended, and to ensure the peaceful transfer of power from one presidential administration to the next. (For those who need a historical reference, that simple act has made us the envy of all other nations for more than 200 years. Yeah: You want to give that up? Seriously? Get real.)

Among those who stepped up was Arizona House Speaker Russell Bowers, a Republican, who told the committee: "I do not want to win by cheating."

Bowers, a lifelong conservative, lost many friends and colleagues simply because he told Donald Trump he wouldn't break the law for him. Trump tried the soft approach, he tried reasoning and then, in typical Trump fashion, when he couldn't get his way he threatened Bowers, who still refused. In the end, the Trump loyalists began to eat their own, threatening Bowers, accusing him of being a pedophile and trying to destroy his life — all because he wouldn't compromise his personal beliefs. (For those in need of a historical perspective, the ability to live peacefully without such reprisal is often cited as a fundamental factor in the founding of this country.)

Wandrea "Shaye" Moss didn't do any better. She was an election worker in Georgia, where Trump was behind in the count and looking for votes to steal.

Moss and her mother, "Lady Ruby" Freeman, were threatened by Trump loyalists and accused of voter fraud after Moss was seen in a video passing her mother a ginger mint. Conspiracy theorists, including Rudy Giuliani, later claimed it was a thumb drive containing fraudulent voting data. "The president of the United States is supposed to represent all people, not target one," Freeman testified.

"Nowhere do I feel safe," Moss told us. Along with everyone else she used to work with in Fulton County, Moss left her job to escape the constant threats from Trumpers. That is a horrible testament to the violence and anger Trumpers demonstrate toward their chosen enemies, and it portends horrible problems in the November midterm elections should those jobs be filled by Trump acolytes who will do anything to win.

Trump targeted Shaye Moss. He targeted Rusty Bowers. He targeted Michael Cohen. He will target Rudy Giuliani and he will target John Eastman. Trump will throw absolutely any other human being under the bus, no matter who they are, if they don't bow to his whim.

As the Jan. 6 committee readied for another hearing, Trump was trying to sell swag. The grift continues, no matter what.

As the Jan. 6 committee readies for another episode on Thursday — to be followed by a break of several weeks while members consider "a deluge of new evidence" — Donald Trump was busy sending out fundraising emails, as usual. He reminded his supporters to buy his golf balls, photographs and other swag before coming out to meet him at one of his golf courses, on a trip supposedly paid for by Trump himself. That's definitely a lie: The Donald never pays for anything.

The grift continues.

An important question was asked during Tuesday's hearing: Who among us is safe?

The answer is obvious — no one. Legal scholars who know more than I do believe that Trump must face prosecution. If he does, and if he is convicted, I believe he should be forced to live under the same conditions Michael Cohen did when he was held in isolation. Let Trump contemplate his contributions to this planet, our shared future and his children in an 8x10 cell. Further, let that cell be an unventilated hot box, complete with a broken window, sink and toilet. Let there be a biblical plague of flies — then he'll know what Cohen went through. Oh yeah, give him a radio — one that only receives NPR.

But if one man is above the law, then we're done.

Some of Trump's supporters venerate him the way our distant ancestors venerated emperors and pharaohs. How far have we fallen if that's even an option?

Trump wants to be just such a man. He encouraged Mike Pence to join him by suggesting "how cool" it would be to have the power the Constitution absolutely never gave him. In so doing, Trump exposed himself as a potential Antichrist, according to evangelical readings of scripture. But don't worry: Hardly any conservative Christians will see the light, until they perish in Trump's flame.

It is the most fervent Trump supporters who present the greatest threat to our mutual survival. While he aspires to be a king, some of his supporters venerate him the way our distant ancestors venerated a Caesar, or an Egyptian pharaoh. Trump loves those guys!

How far have we come, really, if that kind of thing is even an option? We have been warned any number of timess. Anyone who's ever spent any time around Trump and escaped with their lives semi-intact has warned us. Two impeachments warned us. Numerous scandals warned us.

On Sept. 23, 2020, Trump made history by refusing to commit to a peaceful transfer of power after the election.

So to be fair, he warned us. We heard it from his own lips! Still, many of us did nothing, or even aided and abetted those who would destroy the United States.

Did we listen? It will be interesting to see if anyone listens this time.

We've had ample warning. The facts are not in dispute.

This isn't "just politics." This isn't business as usual. This isn't a joke.

According to statements made before the select committee, there is a case to be made for the charge of conspiracy to defraud the United States, not just against Donald Trump, but also against John Eastman and Rudy Giuliani. Let the Three Stooges face the music.

I do not want Trump to go free. I want him to pay for his crimes, but I also don't want him to get the attention his demented psyche craves. At the end of the day, Donald Trump doesn't care whether you love him or hate him — only that you pay attention.

The man is more addicted to attention than any human being I've ever known. Having had the displeasure of covering his presidency in its entirety, I can honestly say I've never met a more loathsome, cancerous pustule of a human being, a man so narcissistic that for him the rest of the universe exists solely to pander to his needs. He's a senior-citizen man-child who has rarely heard the word "no," takes pleasure in the suffering of others and causes that suffering, whenever possible, with a sickening and nearly orgasmic delight. He has no redeeming social value whatsoever. He is incapable of any empathy, any fellowship or any love.

In the end the best way to deal with Donald Trump would be to relegate him to obscurity — and to mark him forever as a failure in everything he's ever done.

On the first day of the Jan. 6 select committee hearings — a primetime spectacular produced by prosecutors, politicians and television executives and pooh-poohed by poltroons — Donald Trump chose the moment to send emails to his followers encouraging them to buy "Limited Edition" Trump commemorative golf balls.

What was the former president commemorating? Why, the alleged hole-in-one Trump claimed in a recent golf outing, of course.

By the second hearing, Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California took center stage to speak about Trump's continuing "Big Lie" and then outlined his "Big Ripoff," highlighting how Trump bilked his supporters for cash in a quest to challenge the results of the 2020 election.

RELATED: Jan. 6 committee makes the case clear for Merrick Garland: Failure to prosecute Trump is political

Lofgren also disclosed on Monday how Turning Point Action, a conservative pro-Trump organization, had paid Kimberly Guilfoyle $60,000 to introduce her fiancé, Donald Trump Jr., in a speech that lasted less than three minutes at the "Stop the Steal" rally at the Ellipse in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021.

Lofgren also told Jake Tapper of CNN that the House select committee investigation into the insurrection has uncovered evidence that Trump's family members personally benefited from money raised based on Trump's "Big Lie."

The Trump campaign, Lofgren said, "used these false claims of election fraud to raise hundreds of millions of dollars from supporters who were told their donations were for the legal fight in the courts. But the Trump campaign didn't use the money for that. The Big Lie was also a big ripoff."

As if to underscore Trump's continued grifting, even as Lofgren spoke at the hearing, the ex-president was busy reminding everyone about his upcoming birthday: for a small donation of $75, he would gladly provide an autographed smiling photo of himself as president.

Lofgren's pointed presentation was meant to open the door to criminal fraud charges against Trump, his company and members of his family. But wait, there's more. During the Monday hearing we were also introduced to "Drunk Rudy" and Trump's claims about "massive dumps" — of supposedly illegal votes, of course. This was fodder for the talk-show circuit, with Stephen Colbert taking a razor-edged approach to those "massive dumps" and describing Trump's answer to my September 2020 question about a peaceful transfer of power as "Exhibit A-hole."

Trump is consistent in his hustle. Give the guy that. He's got the energy and imagination of a Tony Montana — but fewer and fewer want to say hello to his "little friend."

In case anyone missed the overall story arc of the first two hearings, here it is: Trump planned and executed the insurrection — and took advantage of the chaos to try and remain in office.

This isn't new information. When Michael Cohen, Trump's former personal attorney, testified before Congress in February 2019 he warned the world: "I fear that if he loses the presidential election in 2020, there will never be a peaceful transition of power."

We heard the very same thing from Donald Trump himself on Sept. 23, 2020, just six weeks before the election, when he declared that if you just stop counting ballots (when they favor him, of course), "there'd be no transition." He did not commit to a peaceful transfer of power when I asked him directly. That wasn't supposition. That was the president speaking for himself, laying the groundwork for the insurrection, telling us for the very first time – live – that he had no respect for democracy and intended to stay until he wanted to leave.

But now it's 2022 and many of us apparently have forgotten those events. I suppose that's why the early hearings have dedicated so much time to going over territory many of us have already traveled Yet, that trip has had its surprises.

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Jason Miller showed up as the "masked witness," a side character in the second episode. A longtime Trump confidant, Miller testified that Rudy Giuliani was acting inebriated on election night. It was then, Miller and others testified, that Giuliani began spreading the seeds of the Big Lie.

Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien tried to outline two camps in Trump's inner circle: Team Normal (led by him) and Team Drunk Rudy. But there was nothing normal about the Trump White House.

Trump, Stepien and Miller's close professional relationship stands as testimony that Trump probably knew everything both men intended to say. After all, they are still with him, in various capacities. So the question is: Did Trump suggest their testimony regarding Giuliani? It matters little in the end because Trump will certainly exploit it. Rudy is destined to be the next Michael Cohen. He'll be ground under the bus; either indicted or forced into surrendering for a mental inquest that will reveal the hallucinogenic chemicals in his hair treatment.

Time after time in Monday's hearing, the questioning circled back around to Giuliani. He's going to be Trump's last-gasp defense before the Donald is finally cornered with nowhere to run. Trump's daughter has "checked out" and Rudy was drunk. Bill Barr, according to Trump, is a big RINO loser and everyone, I mean everyone, who has turned on Trump is a big-old poopy-pants. Only he can save us.

Barr is certainly singing a different tune these days, calling Trump's claims of voter fraud complete "bullshit." As recently as several weeks ago, Barr said he'd vote for Trump again. But apparently there is no one in Trump's inner circle who supports the claim that the election was stolen — except Donald Trump.

Team Normal? How could there be a Team Normal inside the Trump White House?

That isn't a rhetorical question, as Homelander of "The Boys" might say.

But as "Jan. 6: The Limited Series" unfolds, it is becoming increasingly apparent where the narrative is leading us. Trump is a traitor, and it seems that Rep. Liz Cheney has him squarely in her sights. Hopefully she's a better shot, metaphorically speaking, than her father was in reality.

It is also obvious that the hearings are meant to point toward the prosecution of Trump on a variety of criminal charges, including fraud.

Trump will use Rudy Giuliani to take the fall for everything. Michael Cohen knows how this works. "Of course he'll throw Giuliani under the bus," he told me.

And as I suggested earlier, it's also clear that Trump will use Giuliani to take the fall for everything. The precedent is already established. Trump threw Michael Cohen under the bus successfully; both Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg and Trump himself continue to blame Cohen for the ongoing investigation into Trump's privately held company.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has denied that, saying in a recent filing: "Indeed, the claim that [Cohen] sparked this Investigation as part of a vendetta resulting from Weisselberg's immunized testimony is incorrect."

Cohen recently told me that there's little doubt what the Trump plan is. "He never accepts responsibility for anything that he does," Cohen said. "Of course he'll throw Giuliani under the bus. He'll throw anyone under the bus to save himself."

Trump's actions over the years offer ample proof of that. So it's bitterly funny to see Trump fail dramatically in throwing Bill Barr under the bus.

It's Barr, instead, who has thrown Trump under the bus — completely and effectively. For some, that makes Barr look like the newest hero among Trump defectors. But Barr's no hero, only a savvier version of Trump. He's a cold-blooded politician who used Trump to get what he wanted, and then washed his hands before they were dirtied with an orange stain he couldn't wash off.

Barr's videotaped testimony to the committee shows the former AG scolding Trump on trying to use the Justice Department as his personal attorney — but that's exactly how Barr acted when Trump wanted him to crush Michael Cohen. It's just that Barr knew enough to back out when he saw the writing on the wall. He's a veteran of D.C. corruption, an alumnus of the Iran-Contra scandal, a man who has spent his professional life dodging legal stilettos aimed at his heart.

Bill Barr has been called arrogant, corrupt and incompetent. But no one has ever said he doesn't know how to survive in Washington.

He's been called arrogant, corrupt and incompetent. But he's a survivor, and he definitely understands the Washington scene better than Trump could ever hope to. That's why Barr will survive — and Trump may not. Barr has more cunning and greater survival skills — and as his testimony shows, he can bend the truth better than Trump could ever hope to do.

Trump's supporters, of course, will tell you never to count him out. That's also what they said about John Gotti before he ended up wearing orange.

These hearings are shaping up as a solid roadmap toward wiping away this human stain and pestilence from our national psyche. It is no mistake that Lofgren brought up the "Big Ripoff." That's aimed directly at those who still support Trump. These hearings are aimed at cutting Trump off from what he values most – money. The committee intends to politically kneecap him and then deliver indictments, once he has been humiliated and exposed to his supporters for the grifter that the rest of the world knows him to be.

At that point, even his most loyal supporters will likely follow the example of Bill Barr, refusing Trump succor and happily watching him fall.

At that point, you could maybe get 75 cents for a Trump photo – unless it's used as a dart board. The sad part is, Trump and his family wouldn't even care about that, as long as they got the money.

According to an article published this week by NBC News, President Biden is upset with his staff. It seems the president believes some members of his own administration have undercut his message on occasion, thereby leading to his extremely low poll numbers.

Joe, it seems, can't get a break — and he thinks his own people are the cause.

Welcome to the party, pal. That's exactly what I've been saying for several months. I won't go back over the grisly details, but suffice it to say that it appears Biden has finally joined the chorus.

Biden has been blamed for every calamity that has befallen the country since he took office. His detractors blame him for high inflation, high gas prices, mass shootings and the pandemic, and if given the chance would probably blame him for climate change — though most of his detractors don't believe in that, or at least claim not to. If they could, they'd blame him for toenail fungus.

RELATED: Jen Psaki and the Biden White House: When "almost normal" isn't quite good enough

Then again, some diehard Trumpers were among those who cheered Biden when he was in Poland and said that "for God's sake," Vladimir Putin couldn't remain in charge. Then 15 minutes later the president's staff tried to walk back that comment — pissing off nearly 8 billion people on the planet. Hey, if you're going to screw it up, go big or go home. Of course, the next day Biden had to double down on exactly what he had said the day before, and the whole thing made him look weak and vacillating. What Biden's statement actually showed was how tone-deaf his staff is to what the rest of the country thinks. Americans have had enough of politicians saying, "What I really meant to say was . . ." and took Biden's statement as a breath of fresh air, at least until his underlings screwed him.

June is now upon us and we're staring at a long, hot summer before the midterm elections in the fall, which will decide whether the Biden administration lives or dies. According to NBC News, Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., whose endorsement in the 2020 Democratic primaries helped rescue Biden's struggling candidacy, said, "I don't know what's required here, but I do know the poll numbers have been stuck where they are for far too long."

Biden apparently wants more Democrats talking about his accomplishments this summer — and he's not wrong. The infrastructure bill he signed and pushed through Congress does more for the average American, particularly those in red states, than any president has done for them in the last 40 years. You don't hear about it much anymore, from Biden or any other Democrat — they're too busy being swept under the bridge by current events. They haven't framed political arguments well and they have left too much oxygen in the room for those who still want to promote sedition and the "Big Lie."

But none of this is new. The fact that it's taken so long for Biden to recognize this should be of concern to all of us. Maybe he's got a handle on it now, but damn — how long does it take you to read a room?

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Sure, he delivered a historic infrastructure package. We have historically low unemployment rates. We've gotten a whole lot of people vaccinated against COVID. America is once again respected and Biden appears to be making headway internationally — bolstering both NATO and Ukraine. And still, his approval ratings stink.

And then there's Donald Trump — that's a man who is excellent at reading the room, but has no idea what room he's in. He just knows that wherever it is, he's going to con someone out of their money.

So while Biden is wondering what he has to do or who he has to kill to get better polling numbers than his predecessor, the rest of the nation is wondering:

"Will Donald Trump ever get indicted?"

The last time I heard that question was at lunch with a Justice Department source I've known for close to 30 years. He asked me that.

"I don't know. Isn't that up to you guys?" I responded.

When a Justice Department source asks you, "Will Trump ever get indicted?" you know something has gone wrong.

My source, who has worked in Washington for most of his professional life, told me I had missed the point. According to him, Trump has yet to be indicted because of the fear that in doing so the DOJ will expose itself to charges of corruption, favoritism or incompetence. That echoes the sentiments of several former Trumpers, including his ex-fixer Michael Cohen. All of them want Trump prosecuted. They aren't alone.

I also spoke with a judge in Georgia, where there's some hope that Trump could be brought to justice because of his infamous phone call with Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger after the 2020 election. "Don't count on it," I was told.

And who gets the blame for that? Yeah, you guessed it: Joe Biden, and to a lesser extent Attorney General Merrick Garland. "It's Biden's fault because he appointed Garland," we are often told. These naysayers aren't Trumplicans. They're Democrats, mostly progressives who are angry that Joe Biden isn't Bernie Sanders.

Singer John Legend wants to clean up the Department of Justice. So does Michael Cohen. While Legend points to how minorities, women, immigrants and the LGBTQ community are treated differently, Cohen stresses that the corruption is far more pervasive and endemic. The truth is, according to Cohen, that Trump wouldn't have been successful in manipulating the DOJ during his administration if it hadn't already been corrupted.

And if that's true, then you can't even blame Trump for it, nor can you expect Biden to clean it up with a snap of his fingers. Trump just never gave us a chance to talk about it because he spewed rapid-fire paroxysms of violent rhetoric. On the other hand, Biden, in his attempt to appear more "presidential," gives us plenty of time to ponder his administration's shortcomings.

But that word, "presidential," doesn't mean the same thing it used to. You can blame Fox News founder Roger Ailes, I suppose, for his contribution to the "television presidency" — after all, he was responsible for both Ronald Reagan and Mitch McConnell, two examples of cursed bipedal homo sapiens destined for a museum exhibit of life forms that thrived without functional brains.

Biden is better at controlling the media than Trump ever was. But bringing Korean boy bands to the White House is just a pointless deflection.

It's not that Biden doesn't understand television or the media — in fact, his administration is better at controlling it than Trump ever was. But there's the rub. Trump was dialed up to 11 all the time. Biden has dialed it back, curtailed his natural instincts to talk — remember, that was one of Barack Obama's biggest criticisms of Biden — and has caged the media beast by not engaging us instead of actively fighting against us. But there is another way to do it.

Biden claims he loves the press, but his administration is run by those who constantly apologize for him when they shouldn't, while trying to limit his interaction with us so they don't have to run interference.

Biden's also very good at deflection. On Tuesday in the White House briefing room, we were treated to the "Grammy-nominated international icons" BTS, a K-pop boy band. Many reporters cheered effusively. I almost choked watching it.

I thought of how Sam Donaldson or, God forbid, Helen Thomas, would have reacted to such blathering and I knew once again that the other problem in Washington is us — the press. We don't wear ourselves out trying to dig out the news; we merely react to what is in front of us. We've become nothing more than stenographers — or fans.

"We have met the enemy and he is us," Walt Kelly's cartoon possum Pogo told us decades ago. Damned if he wasn't right.

So, in the end Biden is right to be upset with his staff and his fellow Democrats for not touting his achievements, but wrong about where he places the blame. The president needs to look in the mirror, and needs to frame the arguments far better than he has so far. He has failed to get the country excited, failed to respond to legitimate criticisms and failed to communicate effectively.

The only consistent message out of the Biden camp boils down to "We're better than Trump."

That's really not the ringing endorsement some smug and self-satisfied Democrats think it is. The country has had enough of Trump and his cretinous band of intolerant moles, who are more adept at living in the dark and feeding on garbage than the most resilient New York sewer rat. Hell, they did it for years even before Trump came along, skittering around the fringes of government, voting out of spite and angry at the world and their place in it, without ever understanding they were to blame for their own shortcomings. All Trump did was to bring them into the light and rally them to his narcissistic cause.

It doesn't take much to say you're better than that flea circus of pestilence. And ultimately Biden has to take personal responsibility for what's gone wrong.

Harry Truman famously said, "The buck stops here."Donald Trump's version was, "The sawbuck stops here — but blame is for everyone else."

To right the American ship of state, Joe Biden has to own his shortcomings (a recurring campaign theme) and rally his troops with the energy of Donald Trump — but without the hate, the lies, the vitriol or the sedition.

In other words, he needs to not only act presidential, but he needs to be a leader.

Biden has shown flashes of brilliance, but his administration has been wildly inconsistent. That's not what the country needs, and it's the biggest reason he faces a high risk of failure, or even disaster, in the midterms.