Rebuilding protections against the now virtually unlimited opportunities for influence-buying must be a priority once Trump is out of power. Like many demagogues, Trump demonizes minorities and his political enemies to hide his devotion to the art of the shady deal. These laws needed updating even before the Supreme Court gutted protections against influence buying. The Trump Bazaar, populated by a variety of seedy characters, brings home the urgency of taking this task seriously. Rather than being the cure for such maladies, he is their apotheosis, the culmination of all that has gone wrong in our politics.

Source: Washington Post October 13, 2019 23:26 UTC