Adam White, a research fellow of the Hoover Institution in Washington, D.C., asked me if I could envision any circumstance that might cause me not to support Trump. I responded—like any sensible person would—that of course I could.

Now he wants go through every possible action, revelation, or eventuality and have me serially affirm or deny whether this one or that one might cause me not to vote for Trump. He considers this a great dialectical victory. I see it as yet more proof of the intellectual rot at the heart of conservatism. Agree to disagree!

In any case, White’s taunts only further confirm the thesis he claims to reject: he and other conservatives are giddy over the prospect of a Trump loss because they look forward with pleasure to knowing that said loss will upset Trump’s supporters. That pleasure evidently outweighs whatever misgivings they may have about Hillary Clinton—a woman conservatism has claimed to despise and oppose for 25 years—becoming president.