"Phew! But I just don't get how, knowing what we do, so many people could vote that way," say people who no force on Earth could stop from voting for an institutionally racist party led by a malign dimwit narcissist in the full, continuing conviction it was the right thing to do.

Not all, or even most of these people, are rabid ideologues, or cultists. Many thought they were making the best of a bad job.

Tribalism is one hell of a drug, kids. Among its principal effects: to convince the addict that it makes everyone irrational or immoral except *you*.

In case you've missed the point, I'm not here to defend anyone who voted for Trump. Far from it. I'm here to say: if you don't understand how it happened, here's how. It's called cognitive bias. And it isn't confined to the nasty, wicked Right. It's universal. Look out for it.