Article content continued

Then he told me the hero’s name. It was, of course, Donald Trump.

The rest of the dinner passed in a sort of blur, with the man applying his enormous erudition to the task of explaining Trump’s singular suitability for rescuing the Republic. I heard references not only to Greek myth, but also to the Founding Fathers, Andrew Jackson, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Margaret Thatcher and, of course, Ronald Reagan. It was a Conrad Black column, delivered orally and on steroids. At some points, the historical metaphors soared beyond my powers of comprehension. But one thing was clear: one of the most learned men I had ever met had fallen under the spell of a politician who possessed, according to Trump’s own ghostwriter, “a stunning level of superficial knowledge and plain ignorance.”

As Tuesday’s election grew closer I became distressed by the number of conservative intellectuals rallying to Trump’s side — despite the fact his adult life has been one long, sickening assault upon such basic conservative values as decency, humility and fidelity.

On Oct. 30, a group of 130 conservative thinkers put their names to a manifesto urging “opponents of the progressive agenda to put aside any differences and to join with us, as a vote for Donald Trump is the only feasible method of defending the principles of freedom, justice and prosperity we hold in common against the most serious threat we have ever faced.” Many of the names on this list were hard-right activists, such as David Horowitz (creator of “Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week”) and gun-rights monomaniac John R. Lott. But I also observed a disturbing amount of pro-Trump sentiment among more moderate conservative journalists in my own professional peer group, including men who had mentored me when I was a young writer, and who I knew stood for ideas and principles completely at odds with Trump’s populism.