Frequently predicted but never reached, "peak oil" — maximum possible production — has been postponed yet again, this time because of fracking. "Peak Sanders" was prematurely announced because of persistent underestimations of how underwhelming Hillary Clinton is as a candidate. The Vermont senator's peak might not arrive soon because his fundraising prowess will allow him to continue campaigning to outlaw fracking.
"Peak Trump" — the apogee before the dwindling — might be approaching for the perhaps bogus billionaire (would a real one bother with fleecing those who matriculate at Trump University?) who purports to prove his business wizardry, colossal wealth and stupendous generosity not by releasing his tax returns but by displaying a pile of steaks. The eventual end of our long national embarrassment might be foreshadowed by Donald Trump's pattern of doing better among early voters than among "late deciders": He firmly has those he entranced early; others are more elusive.
If Trump does become acquainted with gravity — no, not intellectual sobriety; nature's downward tug — it will be for two reasons: The Republican Party, which together with the Democratic Party has framed the nation's political debate since first running a presidential candidate 160 years ago, is not a flimsy dinghy to be effortlessly commandeered by pirates hostile to its purposes. And the lavish media exposure that has fertilized the growth of the weed of Trumpism in the garden of conservatism might still stunt its growth by causing his supporters to have second, or perhaps first, thoughts. A steady diet of his self-adulation can be cloying; even an entertaining boor can become a bore.
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