The progressive and Democrat, as well, as, of course, the Trump Deranged response to this scandal is telling, and damning. At CBS—the news division falls neatly into the “progressive” and “Democrat” categories—news editor-in-chief Bari Weiss faced “significant resistance” from the staff when she opined that the plot detailed in New York Times report was a scandal and worthy of coverage. The staff tried every rationalization imaginable from “They do it too” to “It’s not the worst thing.” When Weiss asked for examples of analogous schemes by Republicans, “Face the Nation” moderator Margaret Brennan claimed that New Hampshire Senate candidate John Sununu was engaged in similar tactics because midterm voters might confuse him with his brother, former New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu. No, that isn’t the same thing or a fair analogy. Nobody ever suggested when Ted Kennedy ran for the U.S. Senate in Massachusetts he was trying to fool voters into thinking he was Jack or Bobby. That the CBS hostess of its Sunday talk show is so a) biased and b) critical thinking-handicapped would cause me to search for a smarter moderator.

But all the Democrats and progressives I have asked about the Alaska operation have huminahumina-ed over it. “Well, Republicans have done the same thing!” was the first response I got in a conversation today. When I asked for an example, my Trump-Deranged lawyer friend pivoted to Rush Limbaugh’s exhortation to conservative voters in open primary states to vote for the weakest Democrat running. However, 1) a primary is not an election, and 2) Rush Limbaugh was not the Republican party or a Republican candidate’s campaign.

The next excuse I heard was “Well, did you know that when Dan Sullivan first ran there was another well-loved conservative in the state and many voters may have thought they were voting for him?” Well, 1) no, and 2) so what? How does that little bit of trivia mitigate Peltola’s cheating? Answer: it doesn’t.

Then there are the Axis of Unethical Conduct enablers whose response is, “Oh, how hard is it for a voter to distinguish between the Dan Sullivan with “Republican ” by his name and a Dan Sullivan without it?” Gee, I don’t know! Harder, I bet, than it was for Florida Democrats to know they were voting for Pat Buchanan when they meant to vote for Al Gore.

These people are so desperate to see leftist cheaters, liars and anti-American totalitarians reach positions of power that they will apparently rationalize anything. Trying to rob citizens of their votes is nearly the least of what they will tolerate, which includes instigating political murder and embracing anti-Semitism

I may be dense or I may be naive, but I still can’t fathom how so many once decent and perceptive people got this way. I definitely can’t figure out how they can be cured.