I know some people feel really defeated and scared and think: No, they won. That’s it. I don’t think we’re there yet. There is a lot of volatility in this alliance. I think after a year or two, the American people will be looking for a different direction, one with a little more stability and a little more thoughtfulness about the way we work toward the future, one that doesn’t involve a weakening of the USA is accompanied by the common good, weakening of the US government and weakening of the United States of America at a very dangerous time in the world that seems to be on their agenda.

Sargent: You can see how this is developing. While people like Musk and Marjorie Taylor Greene start pushing these crazy ideas that would cut things in government that people actually like and depend on, it suddenly looks like Trump has no control over anything at all would have. Since he is in power, hWe take the blame for other things that go wrong outside of government etc. What emerges in the end is a picture of Trump as he really is, completely incompetent and so caught up in his own pathological hatred and delusions that he is completely incapable of governing. And then the musky and green stuff flows in and rreminds people why they like competent officials, why they like government that actually works, and why they like government. I think that could fuel voters’ desire for realignment.

Duran: Definitely. A big part of what the government does is to protect people from private greed, the kind that these empathy-free billionaires best symbolize. People will come to their sensesAt some point they will try to go too far and go too far, which I think they will. Nothing lasts forever. In my experience in politics, voters often want one thing and then very soon after they want another. So it’s the art of politics to get this calculation right and not be thrown out of office so quickly or become unpopular. If you’re Elon Musk and Marjorie Taylor Greene, you don’t have this part down pat. Trump, anytime, can throw them out the door.