The current fractured, furious, divided (and losing) state of the Republican Party is some of the best news this year. The worst news was when the party seemed to be coming together, seemed to be “consolidating” around its front-runner, seemed to be making its nominee act as if he were normal, and he seemed to be (in the weeks around his convention) someone with a viable chance to become the next president.

Had that been sustained, it would have meant the American dream was finally over, the torch had been dropped by the Donald Trump generation and the shining city on a hill had become a slum in a very low-rent location, for which the only direction was down.