I don't understand how in the hell Donald Trump is the Republican nominee.

[hatrack]

18. Two Lines Intersected - The Fall Of The "Conventional" GOP And The Rise Of Teh Stupid

On the down line, all of the prattling sockpuppets in suits. What was on their lips? The same old glib shit - tax cuts, liberals bad, Obama evil, Hillary worse and RonaldReaganRonaldReaganRonaldReagan. And the more their lips flapped, the more obvious their desperation became - their desperation to cover up the simple and unavoidable fact that things don't work for most people anymore.

On the up line, tens of millions of people, long since envenomated by conservative "thinking" representing the full spectrum from wishful to magical. They've had 30 years or more to absorb the hate, the pus, the idiocy. And all this time they've been told they're special, they've been reassured that they're The Real Americans, and their paranoia has been lovingly nurtured and fed and cossetted. They, too, have realized that things don't work anymore, and they've finally realized that the sockpuppets have had a big part in bringing this unfortunate reality to fruition.

Enter Trump. He doesn't have "policy", he doesn't have "ideas", he doesn't have "positions". What he has are short, simple sentences, promises to make aw the boo-boos better, and lots and lots of people to blame. He has what lots of people want - simple answers to complex problems, and a license to hate. And since Teh Stupid is all Teh Stupid have left to work with, he's their guy.