Ukrainianizing MAGA America
[T]he person who is both the principal consumer and purveyor of [“politically driven falsehoods,” regarding a bogus theory about Ukrainian political interference] is the president of the United States, just as he has been a purveyor of so many other conspiracy theories. Even now, this should astound us.
It doesn’t, because we’ve been living in a country undergoing its own dismal process of Ukrainianization: of treating fictions as facts; and propaganda as journalism; and political opponents as criminals; and political offices as business ventures; and personal relatives as diplomatic representatives; and legal fixers as shadow cabinet members; and extortion as foreign policy; and toadyism as patriotism; and fellow citizens as “human scum”; and mortal enemies as long-lost friends — and then acting as if all this is perfectly normal. This is more than a high crime. It’s a clear and present danger to our security, institutions, and moral hygiene.