Other Republicans were too genteel, too civilized, and too easily cowed by the press, or so the presidents supporters claimed. Not Donald Trump. He was always on the attack, he never apologized, and he hated the people they hatedDemocrats, progressives, the Squad, the media, the ruling-class elite, RINOs. The president gives voice to their grievances, and they have grown to love him for it.

Its true that Trump might have said some things now and then that made them a bit uncomfortable, especially early on in his run for the presidencywas it really necessary to mock John McCains time as a POW, or a reporter with a disability?but they quickly grew accustomed to it. Some even came to appreciate it. In any case, they came to believe that it was part of the packaged deal. You take the bad with the good with Trump. And, truth be told, the bad wasnt all that badand the good was really, really good.

Trump supporters believe that Trump critics, especially conservatives like myself, are too delicate. What mattered, we were told, is not what Trump said, not what he tweeted, but what Trump did.

Like Bill Clintons supporters in the late 1990s, they invoked the concept of compartmentalization. Trump may have said some unnecessarily provocative things, but the country was doing great under his stewardshipand besides, no real cost was associated with his regrettable words or deeds. On top of that, they believed, Trump was entertaining. Politics had become staid, even boring, before Trump; his presidency brought sparks, energy, excitement.

A few of us who had been lifelong Republicans said no. Much of the Republican Partys base and its political leadership may have rallied round Donald Trump, despite many of them knowing better, but count us out. Character is destiny, personal honor and rectitude matter, and integrity and excellence count. In Donald Trump, we found the antithesis of probity. He is a man of nearly unfathomable corruption, incuriosity, and ineptitude, a person who is psychologically damaged and emotionally wounded.

The day after Trump was inaugurated, I wrote, A man with illiberal tendencies, a volatile personality and no internal checks is now president. This isnt going to end well.

It couldnt end well. Donald Trump could not outrun events forever. Living in his hall of mirrors would eventually become too disorienting; the United States couldnt indefinitely escape the costs of his massive misjudgments and staggering incompetence, his mendacity and nihilism, his assaults on norms and institutions.

Ultimately, Donald Trump could not be anything other than who he is: a con artist; a person living in a world of lies and illusions; a cruel, lonely, rootless, and deeply broken man. The tragedy is that during his presidency, he has broken much of America. Now comes the reckoning. Then hopefully, after Trump, comes the healing. It wont be easy, but healing and renewal are within our reach.

Pain and suffering, they are a secret, Alan Paton wrote in his exquisite novel Cry, the Beloved Country. Kindness and love, they are a secret. But I have learned that kindness and love can pay for pain and suffering.

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Now Comes the Reckoning - The Atlantic