One thing Trump’s supporters loved about him was that he was an outsider who would shake things up. But unlike other outsiders, Trump never truly empowered a grey beard to instill order. His operation consisted of lots of political novices who were either not ready for prime time—or second-tier operatives with delusions of grandeur who had previously not been deemed acceptable to the establishment.

This raises interesting questions. Does an outsider campaign that truly rejects consensus and premises about the political campaign/policy paradigm also inexorably reject consensus about the moral and ethical conclusions maintained by that group? Does a campaign that thrived by breaking the rules and protocols of campaigns sow the seeds of an administration that is destroying itself by breaking rules and protocols of governing? Does a team of iconoclastic and eccentric outsiders who aren’t part of Washington groupthink inevitably make mistakes that no traditional political Sherpa or operative would? Even if you set aside picking fights with the media and “deep state,” was this doomed from the beginning? Maybe they flew too close to the sun? Maybe the house always wins?