Barbara O'Brian of Mahablog was a contributor to Glenn Greenwald's Unclaimed Territory today. Good stuff. She wrote an excellent article about our sick political culture.

Although it’s never been perfect, once upon a time American political culture supported democratic processes. But now many of our civic institutions are controlled by right-wing extremists who do not respect our traditional political culture or the values of democracy. Although they pay lip service to the ideals of democracy, what drives them is the acquisition of power and the implementation of their extremist agenda by any means necessary. If rules must be broken and democratic processes subverted to achieve their goals — so be it..

She also quotes Paul Krugman from the intro of The Great Unraveling.

… reasonable people can’t bring themselves to see that they’re actually facing a threat from a radical movement.

This has been my thought too. I've said this about my beloved, but sadly misinformed brother. He flat out doesn't want to believe the president of the United States may not be acting in the best interest of the country. He thinks what's happening is politics as usual. He thinks that the nasty, mean things that people are saying about the president are only typical, political posturings by bloviating politicians. I believe he thinks It Can't Happen Here.