Over the past four years many have spoken of government ethics as though they were the province of Miss Manners. Now the lack of ethics has left 200,000 Americans dead and two branches of government working with Russian operatives to sabotage our election. Ethics matters.

These things flow directly from Trump’s self-dealing. Trump pursues financial enrichment, political support and electoral advantage. It all flows from the same place: his willingness to use entrusted power for private gain. It all traces back to government ethics. All of it.

His refusal to divest sealed our fate. That’s why ethics matters. That’s why I demanded he divest. I knew his refusal to divest would break the ethics program, and I knew it would lead directly to a threat to the republic itself. I knew that ethical failures cause death too.

I won’t hold my breath on the Washington Post apologizing for saying I was out of my lane in calling on him to divest. And I take no pleasure in having been right. To the contrary, I am horrified. But I hope one day the media will reflect on its normalization of ethical failure.