David Pakman

Elected officials in the past would have needed to do a month long apology tour and then write a white paper to explain how their view changed.

Trump takes three positions a day on every issue at this point in time.

And so it's that that has changed.

The tone aspect has changed.

Now, I'm not much for tone policing, but I do think there is value to speaking in a respectable way, treating other people with respect, not using dehumanizing language.

There were times when referring to your opponents as enemies from within or vermin or this kind of thing.

That was just not acceptable.

It was a breakdown of the civil fabric.

It's just normal now.

No one cares.

People do care, but it's not enough to make a difference.

And so the baseline for what's considered normal has been demolished.

What we count as normal now would have been like a strange fever dream back in 2012.

This did not happen overnight.

It's been a kind of war of attrition.

It's one incident and then another and then a third incident.

Each one kind of pushes the limits of what people are willing to tolerate.

Grab them by the pussy.

When you're rich, they let you do it.

When you're famous, they let you do it.