Is it that President Trump, our clickbait leader, has trained us to expect daily drama, taking advantage of our natural affinity for the sizzle rather than the steak?

Or is it that after three years of almost daily revelations about porn-star payoffs, murdered Washington Post columnists, Russian back channels, WikiLeaks dumps, Charlottesville news conferences, mass shootings and Rudy Giuliani, the bar for what makes us pay attention has been ratcheted so high that something has to be absolutely bananas to clear it? And that we the people need daily plot twists and weekly cliffhangers in order to care?

A confession: Back in the summer of 2015, “The Bachelor” had just ended, and I was hungry for new characters, fresh story lines and a love-to-hate villain to entertain me. Mr. Trump and the rest of the Republicans fit the bill. I remember thinking, after the first debate, “There is zero chance this guy’s going to be president, but I hope he hangs around. He makes it interesting.”

Back then it was, “Why focus on policy papers when Mr. Trump is calling people names and threatening to “spill the beans” on Ted Cruz’s wife?”

Four years later it’s, “Why follow sober legalese from people who look like the deans in 1980s college comedies when you can call them nerds, sit back and wait for the next five-alarm fire?”

The desire for politics to entertain was one of the things that gave us President Trump. And now our collective need for amusement could keep him there.

And how, exactly, are we going to explain this to future generations? “Well, Bobby, it looked like the president used the power of his office to force another country to launch a sham investigation into a political rival in exchange for desperately needed military aid. And we had hearings. But it turns out, if nobody breaks into an office building or ejaculates on a dress, Americans don’t care that much. Also, there was Latin involved. Now, don’t forget to dress nicely for Queen Ivanka’s birthday parade!”