Indeed Stephen, great essay, cheers. As Kat says politics are always been dirty. The GOP (now the Gestapo Operatives Party) made an art form of the "October surprise" (e.g., paying the Iranians to keep the hostage from Jimmy), and lets not forget Nixon's "Rat Fuckers" and Watergate. I was reading recently that under the Trump SCOTUS Nixon would NOT have been driven from office. But all this pales in comparison to the Mango Mussolini, and it is pure fascist playbook. Note: https://medium.com/@daneke/who-are-the-average-americans-turning-the-tables-on-trumps-gaslighting-ce541e83a11a