Opinion | Enough

For the past decade, as Donald Trump has risen in political stature, I have waited for that precarious but inevitable moment when his well-documented liabilities would end his political ascendancy, when it would all finally be too much.I waited through scandalous allegations about affairs and payoffs, and misogynistic and violent talk about grabbing women.

There were the sexual abuse allegations for which he was found liable in one instance, dozens of felony convictions and even more outstanding indictments, flagrantly racist statements and unrepentant xenophobia.There have been so many occasions when I thought finally, we have reached the apex.Finally, he has revealed too much of what lies behind the mask.

Finally, this country will stand up and draw an unbreachable line in the sand.Finally, Americans will say this is not who we are and actually mean it.That time hasn’t come.Mr.

Trump’s election demonstrates how American tolerance for the unacceptable is nearly infinite.There are hundreds of absolutely mind-boggling things I could point to from the past decade — the suggestion of bleach injections to potentially treat the coronavirus and the wild QAnon conspiracy theories infecting millions of Americans, including politicians, and insulting veterans and making fun of the disabled.

But three elections in a row, Mr.Trump has been a viable presidential candidate and our democracy has few guardrails to protect the country from the clear and present dangers he and his political appointees will continue to confer upon us.Clearly, Mr.

Trump is successful because of his faults, not despite them, because we do not live in a just world.Toward the end of the 2024 election cycle, the candidates made their closing arguments.Kamala Harris articulated a hopeful vision, a way forward for a fractured country.

She positioned herself as a moderate, a leader willing to work with her political opponents, one who embraces diversity and cares about the middle class and recogn...