JV Last at the Bulwark published one of those essays this morning that make you both depressed and relieved at the same time. Depressed because it tells a truth that you really wish wasn’t true and relieved because you realize you haven’t been crazy for thinking the same thing. He starts off by quoting one of my favorite analysts, Philip Bump of the Washington Post: The Trump era is about Trump in the way that the War of 1812 was about 1812: a critically important component and a useful touchstone but not all-encompassing. Turning the page on the era requires more than Trump failing to get an electoral vote majority. Perhaps a more accurate time span to consider is something like 15 years. The election of Barack Obama as president in 2008 was hailed as a signal moment in the evolution of American politics and demography, but it also triggered a remarkable backlash. Ostensibly rooted in concerns about government spending, it was largely centered on the disruption of the economic crisis (which triggered an increase in spending) and that overlapping awareness of how America was changing. I’d say this had started long before, all the way back in the 90s when Newt Gingrich ascended to the leadership of the party. Rush Limbaugh and Fox news all set the stage for Trump. It was inevitable that they would end up with a demagogue. Obama was just the final catalyst. However, that’s not the issue Last addresses in his piece. He says…