It's been terrifying enough to witness a large plurality of Republicans respond to Donald Trump's calls for mass deportations, a ban on Muslims, uninhibited use of torture and terror. It's about equally terrifying that, "policies" aside, large numbers of Americans would respond to a man whose speech consists entirely of empty boasts and insults.
It will be more terrifying to watch Republican party leadership fall in behind the blowhard. And Chris Christie -- the kind of garden variety authoritarian bully-boy who in his own right would be constrained by American political institutions -- has started what will probably become a stampede.
Here is how Christie introduced Trump at a rally in Oklahoma City on Friday. The message is simple and moronic: Trump is "strong." American needs a strongman.
