I wish US writers would look up and glance beyond the lower 48. Populism has swept the globe since 2016. Brexit, Bolsonaro, Modi, Orban, Le Pen, Babis, Salvini, and so many other examples of populist mindlessness show us that the problem isn't Trump or any one person: it's representative democracy.

No matter how ignorant and stupid someone is, they get to vote provided they survive to the age of 18. No matter how inept someone is, they can stand as a candidate and if they tell enough simple-minded lies, they can get elected. This is not any basis for adequate governance. Until we wake up and cast off our absurd fetishization of a totally unsuitable system of government, we will simply watch as the populists everywhere destroy everything any sane person would wish to preserve. And all this is aided and abetted by a mass media totally reliant on endless sensationalism to generate revenues - so they give endless coverage to the very worst people and the most corrosive lies.

All in all, it's clear we're headed for tyranny, and not merely in the lower 48.