Jamelle Bouie breaks down the sickness affecting American democracy.

“You need look only at the last 25 years of American political life to see that this country is unwilling, and thus unable, to hold its political elites responsible for anything, from illegal wars to fraud and other forms of venal wrongdoing.

“There are many ways to diagnose the state of the nation, but if there is a sickness eating away at American democracy, it is our culture of elite impunity. Trump is at once a symptom of this disease and its apotheosis, a living representation of all the ways the United States has encouraged, tolerated and rewarded the most selfish and antisocial behaviors imaginable, at least among a certain class of person. And with the full might of the federal government in his hands, Trump hopes to institutionalize impunity — to make it the only rule, both here and abroad.”