This is Earth. These are Americans. This is American politics.

Race tied, Trump has an 8 point lead on honesty

Really?

Him?

Literally decades of Republican investigations accompanied by non-stop baying of Crook! Corruption! and even Murderer! have resulted in no charges against Hillary Clinton or her husband for anything, ever, though Bill did perjure himself about a sexual escapade.

Assange and Putin, aiming to scuttle her, leak emails and stolen documents in which no one has found anything to back up such howls, but the howls go on, Crook! Crooked Hillary! It's all rigged! Documents! Emails! The proof is in there!, though nothing whatever has been found in there and there is no reason to expect to find anything in there.

Bernie yells Corrupt! Sold to Wall Street! Secret speeches! Secret server! and then the biggest fraud in American politics in decades, an evil quasi-fascist demagogue, Donald Trump, leads the chorus yelling Corrupt Hillary! Lying Hillary! She belongs in jail! I will lock her up!

And after decades of hate-mongering the Republicans may yet win this election solely as a result of the conviction their decades of hate propaganda, fake investigations, unwarranted fishing expeditions, and fraudulent accusations have inspired in so many American voters that she is corrupt, a liar, not to be trusted, and belongs in jail.

The technique of combining a relentless and ubiquitous flood of big lies and coarse personal abuse in propaganda is commonly attributed to Hitler, or Mussolini, or anyway the fascists - though the communists were certainly not unfamiliar with the ways of mass propaganda.

No surprise our contemporary Republicans and the radical right wing rabid dogs who drive them are so good and so relentless at it.

These are the mad dogs and gutter scum whose hero shouted out "You lie!" at President Obama's first State of the Union address, to the joy of the movement and the shock of decent folks.

They have exactly the leader they deserve.

Salon

Ezra Klein