The American conservative, if we are to take anything from this terrifying joke of an election, is an amazing creature. Capable of astounding feats of hypocrisy, remarkable leaps of faith, daring acts of logical acrobatics and awesome rhetorical magic, this group has singlehandedly brought the United States to the precipice. Whether or not the nation will tumble over, at this moment 72 hours before Judgement Day, remains to be seen.

The ringmaster to this spectacle is, of course, the incomparable Donald J. Trump, Defender of Middle America, Vanquisher of Hillary the She-Devil, Architect of the Great Southern Wall, in short, the Great White Hope. What is so curious about Trump’s rise from the muck and mire that was the Republican primary campaign, is not so much that his peculiar brand of populism gained him the support of millions, but that those millions and millions more have carried their messiah and his baggage all this way to the edge of glory. The Grand Old Party became impotent and incapable of stopping the political upstart. The Democratic Party tried to discount his message as the mad ramblings of a disturbed mind and sent a veteran but battered technocrat off to face him on the plains of Armageddon. This is where we stand — two figures volleying flaming arrows at one another, vying for a temporary address on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Of course this is hyperbolic and farcical — I do not truly believe that the 2016 election will bring about the end of the world and there is nothing remotely messianic in Trump’s character. However, this election has proven, whereas previous elections have only suggested, that you do not have to be articulate, reflective or even civil to run for the highest office in the country: you just have to be loud. Throughout this torturous campaign that seems to have only fallen deeper and deeper into the pit with each moment, Trump has repeated the same rallying cries, the same worn out fairy tales, the same hateful pronouncements and not one person who was in his camp at the beginning has stepped out of that camp. If anything, the camp has grown as Trump’s rabid attacks upon anything vaguely connected to progress and common sense have been eagerly devoured by the very people Trump has made it his business to avoid, exploit and alienate.

It is baffling how someone who lost their manufacturing job of 30 years to overseas competition can be completely confident that a billionaire real estate developer with luxury properties in those same competing countries will fix everything for them. How is it that someone who wants their children to have a better education and future are so happy to throw their support behind a man who speaks only with murky promises of “big changes” and seems incapable of publicly thinking above an elementary school level. Why are people who pride themselves on “traditional values” so joyfully voting for a thrice married man who builds casinos across the globe and, as near as I can tell, has never even passed through Small Town, America. It’s puzzling how any self-respecting woman, regardless of her thoughts on so-called feminist issues, can bring herself to support a demonstrated predator and all-around Philistine. Finally, it is inexcusable how any right-minded American voter, upon hearing the steady stream of nonsensical nattering, groundless accusations, condescending drivel and toxic lies issuing from this man’s mouth, would, upon being asked why they like Trump, answer: “He speaks his mind”. Whatever your political, moral or philosophical inclination, if Donald J. Trump does indeed “speak his mind”, you should seriously contemplate having that mind in the Oval Office representing the United States in the world, which, whether conservatives like it or agree with it or not, is not afraid of us anymore.