Jeff Flake not running "will not be complicit"

[pbrower2a]

Senators Flake and . Corker expose nothing that we liberals do not already know. Donald Trump is incompatible by ability, preparation, temperament, and moral compass for the Presidency. Conservative Republicans may be finding out later than liberal Democrats that the Presidnt's moral universe is a steaming pile of fresh dog droppings. In this he is like some Communists in the Soviet bloc recognizing as their systems start to unravel that what they have supported is economic failure and moral emptiness.

We do not yet have a full-blown dictatorship, but we aren't far away. We have yet to cross the political equivalent of the maelstrom of hot gases surrounding a black hole, let alone the event horizon surrounding a black hole. We can still turn back.

We are stuck with some reversals of liberal ideals. But we can undo that. We also have a few problems to solve other than Donald Trump -- like a cultural climate that makes him possible. We need to separate politics from entertainment, something that the Romans learned the hard way with Nero, Caligula, and Commodus -- and that wise people found obvious by knowledge of those hideous examples of cruel misrule.

Integrity matters. Objective reality matters. Caution matters. Kindness matters. Fairness matters.  Legal formalities matter. These all matter far more than some precious agenda or some bloated personality.