Hi, Ake. No problem :-)

What is happening in the US is the meltdown of the Republican Party itself. Federally, they have been crap for all of this century, and worse, they keep on providing proof for that conclusion. Eight years under Cheney/Wolfowitz/Rumsfeld/Bush and eight under Obama, the Republican Party has demonstrated its ability to lie, cheat, steal and generally screw up everything it touches. They are so wrapped up in their internecine rivalries that they're coming apart, and that is no less than the Republican Party deserves for providing sixteen years of garbage politics, obstructionist tactics in the House and Senate, and a willingness to hurt economically poor citizens in its march to the greater glory of the lunatic chorus led by people of dubious mental abilities. Here I include Palin, Bachmann, Cruz, Trump: basically, the people who come to mind when one thinks of the term 'stupid and proud of it'. However, it's equally wise to beware of stupid people in groups. The problem the Republicans face--and no mistake, they did bring it on themselves--stems from the people who give lip-service to whatever plays well for the audience of the moment. The Republicans have direction problems: anti-policies aren't policies, no matter how much they may wish it were so. Google

Washington Post Kareem-Abdul Jabbar

and read his column of Feb.1, 2016. IMO, he has a good grasp of the situation.