Originally published at Michael Merriam. You can comment here or there.

At the end of this last election, I found myself feeling like King Theoden watching the Orc army laying siege at Helmsdeep. There he is, tired, shocked, his squire strapping him into his armor, and all he can think is, “How did it come to this?”

How did it come to this? Well, there are many reasons. Some are understandable. Someare beyond comprehension. Some are too terrible to contemplate. But we don’t n...