Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “The mind, once stretched by a new idea, never returns to its original dimensions.” Can a nation’s collective sense of what is right, and proper, and decent, be similarly stretched, and warped, by daily expressions of new and utterly contemptible ideas and behaviors?

President Trump routinely traffics in shocking displays of dishonesty and vulgarity. He gleefully fuels corrosive tribalism at the expense of national unity. He cruelly demonizes those who don’t share his twisted vision of America. He belittles our most senior military leaders as “losers, dopes, and babies.”

The president’s knowledge of history, appreciation for alliances, and understanding of geopolitics is profoundly limited. His work ethic is on a permanent golfing vacation. His negligence and incompetence during the pandemic have killed thousands of our fellow citizens.

I fear that the minds of many Americans have been so grotesquely stretched that they believe it’s acceptable to normalize the aforementioned dangerous and divisive conduct. And what effect is this having on our young people?

It’s often declared that one shouldn’t reward bad behavior. A Trump victory in November would make a mockery of such advice.