Putin has been in power for 20 years. It takes a while to dismantle all the democratic institutions that make is so that you can stay here without worry. Trump made an attempt to dismantle every institution from the 3-letter agencies like CIA, FBI, CDC, DOJ, the media, rule of law, even the concept of the presidency and elections themselves. We won't be so lucky if Trump has a second go at dismantling these institutions, because it took him a while to figure out how, but now he's pretty much an expert.

It seems like the institution of presidential debates that has been a hallmark of our democratic process for decades was destroyed by the GOP just yesterday, so speaking in the past tense as if the damage has ceased is a mistake.