It’s not so rare that politics turns into dreaming dreams of revenge–and dreams of monsters. Newly-acquired power is intoxicating rather than edifying or instructive. Things get in the way of getting what you want and that encourages revengeful action. The solidity — or at least viscosity — of political life is almost unbearable. The more you want to change things the harder it gets, it seems. What do the supporters of the current president or administration have but anger at their opponents, who are either invisible or too many to count? Politics for supporters of the president looks like an endless series of the same two choices: Shout in anger at people you want to destroy or give up on politics in disgust.

So also with those who are afraid of the power they themselves or their allies no longer wield: They begin to see monsters lurking in every change. The boundaries of reality are an unsteady bulwark against nightmares. You never know what’s coming. You only know that you’re not in control. The unprecedented vulgarity of the administration and its talking puppets humiliates the proud architecture of D.C. and the usual decorations that feed the American pride in America and the way things used to be. By itself, that announces unfathomable changes. Politicians in D.C. still wear suits, but might turn to demotic habits at any point now, it seems. The conventions and politeness of politics now seem shattered, humiliated.