We are truly living in a time of ferment. And fermentation often does not smell good. Trump has been accurately identified as a BS artist. I've thought so since well before his election. Fareed Zakariah on his GPS show made the exact same observations as I had using the philosophical paper published by Frankfurt: "On Bullshit". One of the most explicable points being made that the bullshitter has a more flexible relationship with "truth' than the liar.
My concerns with our situation go far beyond the mere office of the Presidency. For many years now the Republicans have had a flexible relationship with external reality. I remember two elections ago during a Republican primary debate when the moderator asked them how many believed in Creationism and all of them raised their hands. Whether or not that was a gesture of genuine belief or more likely a kowtowing to their bases, it was to me a genuinely scary sign of the state of our country.
It IS a sign, however, that we are democratically sourcing the rather pitiful assemblage of Republican deplorables who are doing their best to turn the clock of progress back on itself.
Meanwhile, Russia's effort at democracy is foundering badly in nationalism and violence, both inwardly and outwardly. It is entirely appropriate to identify the extent of Putin's reach across the globe. A lot of it is simply vicious and damaging, as if he is simply trying to see how big a bastard he can be.