The root cause of the political death spiral that afflicts the Republican Party has been blamed on Trump, Nixon, and a host of minor players. We have overlooked a hidden player that has only been with us for 30 years.

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There is a deep seated human need to discover justice, to see good rewarded, to see evil punished.

This administration has turned that on its head. We see the worst acts rewarded. Virtue is a hanging offense.

Scott Pruitt is a case in point.

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They appear as polar opposites.

Mr. Comey is truthful, Mr. Trump dwells in alternate facts. Mr. Comey is low key, Mr. Trump bluster itself, Mr. Comey avoids personally denigrating others.

Yet, in one respect, they are frighteningly similar.

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True conservatives, the heartless ideological sort, are mistakenly attacking the Special Counsel.

They can make their wildest dreams come true, if they ignore the dyspeptic Mr. Trump and force Mueller to go much farther than he wants to go.

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We have entered a world we did not envision.

Gangsters endanger those who enforce laws, mobsters take over governments, and criminals take away the pensions of those who investigate them.

Pac-Man tactics have become a way of life.

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As with other tragedies, victims speak out, some with specific safety proposals. As with other tragedies, anonymous internet trolls ignore proposals and attack victims themselves, joined by a few public figures.

But this time, something is different.

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Each clumsy firing was a joke, an example of ghastly humor, an exercise in executive cowardice.

The chaos, the anxiety, the tension have become too familiar.

The pattern is no longer funny.

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Political advocates have always twisted facts, tossed in irrelevant prejudices to muddy rhetorical waters.

But now some on the right go way past that, inventing alternate facts out of thin air.

One nationally known personality becomes a case study.

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As we watched a campaign witness go to pieces on national television, I was reminded of the most pitiful member of French aristocracy ever to face the guillotine.

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Few individuals are offered an unexpected opportunity to overcome danger while saving lives. Fewer still discover enough courage hidden within to perform well in the face of danger. President Trump surprised us with his own demonstration of character.

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