The biggest reversal, of course, has to do with reversals. Conservatives have historically espoused a belief in moral absolutes, while decrying moral relativism. Yet, so much of what today’s conservatives say—about the “establishment” and institutions (like the FBI)—could have been spouted by a Berkeley hippie in 1968.

Go down a list of issues—character, values, free trade, earmarks, Russia, spending, law and order, the rule of law, etc.—and you’d be hard-pressed to find any semblance of a consistent position. Today’s Republican Party is 180 degrees different from the party that most of its members—like myself—signed up to join.

So we are left with a party without a foundation, without a roadmap, and without a soul. It does have a brand though, it’s tacky and gold-plated and it reads “TRUMP.”

While it may be possible for the GOP to abandon its premises and coast on the borrowed capital of the past, enduring without a raison d’être requires a constant stream of revenge fantasies to rationalize supporting such a shallow cult of personality.