A corrupt system is not a space where corruption is permissible, it’s a space where corruption is mandatory. And by corruption I don’t just mean graft. The ability to ignore Trump’s lies comes at the cost of corrupting your ability to perceive reality. As people who have family members in MAGA or Qanon know, people vanish into the upside-down where school shootings are fake, but pizza pedos are real.

Having an “it’s complicated” relationship with reality means being estranged from competence.