At first, I thought getting beaten, both by popular and electoral count, and the failure to demonstrate in the courts that he had a case would cause him to fade away. The January 6 debacle should have only sealed his fate.

But the Trumpers rallied, first by trying to prove the lie, then by not caring who knew it was a lie, and finally by not giving a damn if everyone knew it was a lie. I thought honest and brave Republicans would come to their senses, but mostly they looked the other way, and the few who did resist were devoured by the jackals on their own side.

Again, the parallels with Nazi Germany are plain to see. The Conservatives took advantage of the demagogues and the bigots to put down the left, restore the old order, and crush the unions. They felt that they could control the Beast once it was unchained. Like the German aristocrats, businessmen, and Conservatives of the 1930s, they were were mistaken. And now the Beast is turning on them.