I was relieved when Jerry Falwell, Jr. recently compared Donald Trump to Jesus because, well, I’d been having some trouble knowing what to make of The Donald, and the adjective ‘Christ-like’ hadn’t sprung to mind. I don’t know why. Other adjectives had, but not that one. The Falwell family had been helpful to me before. I didn’t know the Telletubbies were homosexual role models until Jerry Sr. made that clear, or that “Gay folks would just as soon kill you as look at you.”

On the road this week, traveling the back roads into New England, I was struck again – as I always am whenever I get my ass out of the house – by how fundamentally decent most Americans are. I’m talking about basic stuff: the back-and-forth at the gas pump, the willingness to help if you have a question or run into trouble, the joke while waiting for the restroom in the back of the convenience store. It’s nice to be reminded of this, to know that basic civility and politenes