It amazes me that the 45th President of the United States only trails his Democratic Party rival by half a dozen points in most opinion polls. Sure this is a sufficient margin for him to lose office. But only 6 or 7 points?

It strikes me that a person who demonstrates such a wilful unfitness for office through both word and deed should be so close to being re-elected (538 have him at about 25% chance of winning) is extraordinary. One might have reasonably imagined that those who did vote for 45 the first time round purely out of a dislike of Hillary Clinton or a desire to give the finger to the Establishment would now be having second thoughts. Such as not voting at all.

But apparently not, or at least, not many of them are. This does not augur well for humanity - that there are enough folks who are willing to shoot themselves in the foot, twice. When things go pear-shaped in a small state, the consequences are largely local. When they happen in a superpower, the effects ripple out, often gaining strength as they do. They cannot be ignored.