1. As Republicans have (so far) shown no willingness to break from Trump, it's worth considering how much worse things could get under Trump if he continues to have this kind of firewall of propaganda and defense from the right, no matter what he does.
2. Consider the shifting of norms of the presidency from '17 to '19. Trump attacked his own State Dept and IC, turned the Justice Dept into his private law firm, used State and DoJ to go after his political opponents, and shifted US foreign policy to acting on behalf of dictators
3. He has also stonewalled Congress, ignored laws they passed, threatened violence against his opponents (with real consequences), politicized the US military, and increasingly surrounded himself with compliant yes men.
4. The "collusion" with a foreign power to undermine our democracy that was at issue in the Russia investigation is now out in the open for all to see in a call transcript with the President of Ukraine and the whistle blower complaint.
5. To obstruct any investigation into that collusion, he sought to use the classification system of the U.S. government to hide his criminal behavior.
6. We also know that calls with leaders like Putin and MBS - the two most likely other supporters of his reelection from abroad - were similarly hidden, hinting at the scale of corruption that we don't know about.
7. If this corrupt and criminal behavior is protected by a major American political party, we are in entirely new territory as a country, with unforeseen consequences that are likely all negative.
8. Consider how much norms of presidential behavior and the functioning of the U.S. government has changed in just 3 years. Then imagine how much more they could change in 5 years if Trump is reelected.
9. We could see the routinization of purges within the civil service of the U.S. government, the investigation of political opponents, the abuse of the classification system to protect the President, and the wholesale corruption of American foreign policy
10. The pillars of democracy - the independence of the rule of law, the accountability from co-equal branches of government and the media, the idea that leaders don't use instruments of government for personal profit and power - will collapse.
11. The standing of the United States in the world will be forever unravelled at a time when authoritarianism and nationalism is already on the rise, risking an erosion of individual freedoms and conflict between nations.
12. People who live in countries that transitioned from democracy to authoritarianism often fail to have a single moment to point to - the erosion and ultimate destruction of democratic norms happens over time, as people adjust to a new normal.
13. The Republican Party, in short, is trading away America's secular creed - our tradition of democracy - for short-term political gain in service to a President who is plainly criminal, incompetent, and narcissistic
14. At some point, Republicans will have to ask themselves: is this really worth it?
