Reports of his death were greatly exaggerated

The other day I was briefly gladdened by the internet rumor that Donald J. Trump had finally shuffled off to Buffalo — or wherever a guy like that goes when his time is up. Probably not Buffalo.

It was false, of course. Everything is false on the internet, without exception. But my reaction prompted a bit of soul-searching.

First, I wondered: Have I ever in my lifetime been cheered by the idea of someone else’s demise? Nope. Well, Ted Bundy maybe, but I can’t think of anyone else offhand. Takes a special kind of person to convince me that their absence would make the world a better place.  

Second: Would it though? Trump has already poisoned America to the extent that it seems unlikely to recover any time soon. He’s gutting every public good, destroying trust in elections and governance, putting troops on the street and enlisting tens of thousands more masked, steroidal thugs to enforce his personal whims. Whatever happens to Trump in the years to come — and I hope it’s something like draconian  justice — this Trump era does not end well.

Hitler’s 1,000-year Reich lasted about 10 years. We know how that ended. Trump’s been with us as a political figure for about the same time. He’s almost 80, and acts like it. He can’t live forever. But he’s remade an entire government in his image: Fox News fabulists, Botoxed ass-kissers, triumphalist toadies. Oh, and J.D. Vance, who embodies them all. 

When Trump dies, they’ll all declare him a martyr and redouble his malignance. At this point, his utter disgrace would be better for America than his actual death. Unfortunately, I can't imagine any line left for this guy to cross. After a decade of outrages, and his long friendships with guys like Epstein and Putin, it’s hard to imagine what utter disgrace would look like. 

Still, as I told myself when those death rumors popped up: A man can dream.