The current modern era of disgusting politics is inextricably linked for me with the use of the term “the base”. The first time I heard it, my body reacted with a bit of revulsion, as if someone had just spit in my food. I still shudder a little every time I hear it used. It is the embodiment of every nasty partisan impulse to overlook actions that might otherwise cause the viewer to pause and reflect on their shared humanity, to go too far in forgiving those hypocritical transgressions in the course of wielding what limited power exists only for the purpose of getting your way.

It has brought us to this.