The true nature of this diagnosis, and its pitfalls, are now evident. At its core, the idea was that once Donald Trump — who ferociously stoked cultural conflict around covid at every opportunity — faded away and his grip on GOP voters weakened, consensus could emerge around the idea of working together toward the common good of defeating covid.But Trump has not faded away. Worse, some Republicans have themselves escalated the Trumpist project of fomenting relentless conflict around covid. Hopefully they'll learn - again! - but tick tick tick time runs out.