She continued: “Read enough to stay informed but then plan activities that give you a regular break from the issues and the stress they might cause. And remember to take care of yourself and pay attention to other areas of your life.”

That is precisely what many people are doing: turning away from Trump, to the degree they can, and pouring their passions into pet projects, things they can actually control, things close to them where they feel they can make more of a difference.

But, even as such, Trump is still somewhat inescapable. He has seized on America’s obsessions. He has bored his way into our brains. Even when you are not obsessively consuming news about him, he is still omnipresent.

Trump has arrived at a moment of supreme voyeurism and compulsive fame whoring. He has stepped into our flaws and stretched open our shame. He is a genuine danger, but also a perfect object for political mania.

Still for some people, being checked out means they consume less of the poison, and that is the only way they feel they can survive.

I struggle with how to evaluate these people. In a way, I completely understand. Sometimes I, too, take a day or a weekend away from the insanity to preserve my own peace. But is a sustained disconnect irresponsible and a demerit on one’s political citizenship? Does disconnection represent a drift toward cynicism, self-defeat and apathy?

I don’t think it has to be, but I worry that on some level it is inevitable.

I see two main groups of people who want Trump gone: the exhausted and the excited. The exhausted just need this nightmare to draw to a close. The excited have a replacement candidate about whom they are passionate. The former, I believe. lean more on the electability argument, and the latter promote the more transformative candidate.