We are fighting a "fire hose" and conventional wisdom that turns out to be naivete.

First, the fire hose is the---unprecedented---unbelievable---"OMG, this can't be bappening"---spew of lies, hypocrisy, arrogance, greed and shameless cruelty from Trump and his acolytes. In the course of most of our days recently, we hear of several new Trumpian outrages; outrages that our past experience tells us should be cause for widespread anger and criticism. And, yet, day after day, we see a mostly cowed media simply yawn and, occasionally, cluck disapproval.

As citizens, we are caught in the middle of the largest criminal conspiracy this nation has ever witnessed. What began as the manipulated elevation of a mentally unstable grifter has metastasized into a vile mass of unparalleled corruption that poses---truly--- an existential threat to us, our children, our grandchildren. WHAT to do---turn off the hose at its source---is obvious. HOW to do this is not and time is not on our side. We are willing to act but, currently, lack a leader to direct our outrrage.

Second, most of us---certainly me included---have, until recently, lived our lives within unspoken boundaries of decency. While it would be difficult to articulate exactly where decency ends and "something else" begins in all situations, a few of the guard rails are easily identified.

Most of the time, decent people don't lie; they are not cruel; they insist that the "rules of the game" be fair and that the refs be, like them, decent people. We do genuinely try to "treat others as we would like to be treated.

As mentioned, these "givens", these assumptions are largely unspoken, but probably control our behavior more effectively than all the laws on the books.

But, Trump and those like him are also aware of these unspoken boundaries. They, however, see them as foolish weaknesses and opportunities to deceive and plunder. Each time someone says something like "That can't be true. People just don't DO things like that!", the Trump folks smile and mutter "What idiots!"

I guess that's all I have. Somber thoughts on a sunny morning in southern Illinois.