Just when you think political discourse in America could not possibly get any dumber. Or more dishonest.

Along comes an(other) angry, bigoted mob.

First, they got whipped up by last week’s decision by second lady Karen Pence to return to teaching. At a private Christian school, this being America and all. You know, the birthplace of religious freedom and tolerance.

The ensuing meltdown was astonishing, even by today’s moronic standards of public debate. By the end of the week, the phrase “Expose Christian Schools” went viral.

If only there were an ointment or a cure or a prophylactic for such a nasty virus. It makes people dumb and thoughtless and impairs their judgment.

Left untreated, this virus causes people to froth at the mouth and spit invective at innocent strangers. Most often, this virus is associated with untreated, advanced-stage Trump Derangement Syndrome.

In mob form — particularly in the safety of online “forums” — those suffering from this virus become fully infantile, develop deep paranoia and will lash out at complete strangers with ignorant, bigoted, racial and religious animus.

You know, the sort of behavior that is not accepted in any polite society any more today.

Full-grown adults, mothers and fathers of actual children, were infected by the virus. They condemned not just Mrs. Pence but Christian schools generally and smeared an entire religion.

Adding to their rage was the prospect of the March for Life, an annual gathering of tens of thousands of people — often hundreds of thousands — on the National Mall.

Religious bigots have long despised the March for Life, a remarkable gathering of peaceful people giving voice to the truly voiceless. These people do this every year on what always seems like the coldest day of the year. (Also, they are famous for never leaving behind any trash.)

But with “Expose Christian Schools” a trending rage, the lusty mob smelled blood. Their Twitter tiki torches were burning hot, their shiny forceps glinting in the sun.

They went in search of victims to jeer and bully and smear with their vitriol. They found them on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Young students from a Catholic high school in Kentucky.

The internet mob — is there a more ignorant, prejudiced or cowardly mob? — was relentless. Accusing the young boys who had finished the March for Life of disrespecting an elderly gentleman who wandered into their group, banging a drum.

The offense: One boy stood there watching the man, smiling, as the man banged the drum inches from his nose. Nearby, other boys continued with the school chants they were reciting when the drummer walked up.

The bigoted mob denounced the boys for the color of their skin and ridiculed them for their religion. The lusty mob found out where the boys attended school and began harassing school officials.

Within hours, the mob — many of them grown adults with children of their own — had so thoroughly destroyed these young boys’ reputations that the students feared they would be expelled from school.

Surely, once the mob has put away its tiki torches and turned off the internet, cooler heads will prevail.

Still, left behind by the angry mob is the most appalling pile of garbage that will follow these boys for the rest of their lives.

• Contact Charles Hurt at churt@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter @charleshurt.