If Predicate One for the Hillary gambit is the wartime alliance of the Anglo-Americans with Communist Russia, Predicate Two is the decision of Alexander Hamilton in the presidential election of 1800 to back Thomas Jefferson, his bitter and long-time political enemy, against Aaron Burr.

Jefferson was a foe, but Burr was a genuine threat to all order, a man who in time would try twice to dismember the Union (and, in between efforts, kill Hamilton in a duel, over what he perceived as a slight).

Threats such as these compel extreme measures, ones one does not lightly take. “If Hitler invaded Hell, I would make at least a favorable reference to the Devil in the House of Commons,” Churchill said at the time, adding, “I have only one purpose, the destruction of Hitler, and my life is much simplified thereby.”

Conservatives who fear Trump find their lives simplified in a similar manner, which explains any number of things.