If you prefer, Heather Cox Richardson has the kremlinology take.

It's worth looking at Trump through the lens of Russian oligarchy. Nothing that has happened would surprise any Democrat if his name were Deripaska or Navalny.

Right - there are so many exercises in empathy that you can't help but expand your horizons. The problem is that liberals start these things with "what if my president" or "what if the front runner from my political party" without recognizing that the game is entirely different. You have to go "what if my chieftain" or "what if my shaman" or "what if my living god" in order to get there.

"What if my chieftain had committed dozens of crimes against the world and my tribe will lose all power if I don't defend him? How can I spin that in the Wall Street Journal?" etc etc etc

Democrats have it easy here - because liberals and Democrats spend so much time reasoning out whether or not this or that Democrat is worthy of their support, their rejection muscles are well-toned. "Oh, Al Franken held his hands in front of someone's boobs on a USO flight fifteen years ago? Yeah he's got to go." They don't really grasp just how spiritually, viscerally and completely the Republicans are ensnared. After all, they tried to banish Trump from the tribe for two solid years and he ran through them like clap through a whorehouse. He is the Republican Party, through and through, the big kahuna, the master of disaster, the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. You can't unseat a champion through parliamentary procedure what kind of pussy are you?

The smart ones know, however, that there will be a power vacuum if the other tribe murders their chief. But the smart ones know, however, that if they are complicit in murdering their chief they will be CAST OUT. Have you noticed how much "hostage language" every unnamed source has been using for the past 7-8 years? They did their best and now they're trapped. But so long as they're trapped, they gotta do what the tribe chooses to do, and the tribe chooses to well ackshully slavery. So they simultaneously spit fire and brimstone at those evil heathens hell bent on murdering their beloved chief while privately praying their chief will be murdered soon for the good of all mankind.

I've come around on Mitch McConnell. I think I've realized that he set himself a goal, he knew there was only so much he could get done in his time left on this earth, and he went full nihilism on it. He doesn't give a shit what it will do to the Republican Party to strike down Roe V. Wade, what he cares about is striking it down to say he did, because he's been hell-bent on striking it down since Robert Fucking Bork. Promises made, promises kept, name an airport after me when I'm dead.

times every Republican.