One reason the tempo of this kind of behavior seems to have increased is because the egalitarian ethos is sinking deeper into our civilization and inspiring in individuals a mania for distinction and relevance. There is a psychological comfort in believing yourself unique, even if the best you can do is perversely imagine yourself as uniquely persecuted and victimized by the government or some majoritarian monster. If Leviathan or the patriarchy or the Russians are dead set on crushing you like a bug, that at least affords you some distinction in life. You weren’t just some guy with an okay job, and some creditors who watched TV until dead.

Of course a TrumpTV network could thrive in this touchy, aggrieved environment. And it would occasionally provide real value merely because certain types of media outlets tend to stumble on certain kinds of true stories. We live in a world where The National Enquirer can sometimes break campaign altering stories alongside conspiracy theories involving Elvis and extraterrestrials.

In a modern mass democracy, the media increasingly takes on the role of a clerical class. We turn the raw input of reality into what we think are edifying “stories,” and try to convey people toward wherever “progress” is taking them, their eschatological destiny. But America is a land with a genius for creating new sects and even cults.