How did we all end up living in such a cheap thriller...?

...Watergate had some dignity, if nothing else. Deep Throat, the watchman in the night, the tapes, and Nixon--while guilty as sin and not a little crazy--still had dimension to him. He was a man of first rate abilities, who clearly had done great things for the country...and yes, I can admit this now. That was like a Fletcher Knebel novel--and for those who don't know him, he co-wrote Seven Days in May, and solo wrote a lot of similar political thrillers. A relatively high-class scandal.
Today...Jesus. Do I even need to go on? Marx once said that history always repeats, once as tragedy, a second time as farce. Trump. Pence. Sessions. Hannity. This is a pornographic thriller, somehow imposed on reality and forcing us all to share in it...