THE CULT WILL REMAIN INTACT

If only Peggy Noonan were right about this:

It is said Mr. Trump’s base never wavers and always rallies, and historically this has been true. When he’s accused of being a trickster in business they don’t care—it’s extraneous to presidential leadership. They don’t care if he’s an abusive predator of women—again, extraneous, old news. But endangering our national security, including our nuclear secrets? That is another matter.

This won’t solidify his position with hard-line supporters. Deep down they know “What about Hillary?” doesn’t answer the questions: “Why would Trump do this? Why would he put America in danger? Who did he show those papers to?”

As to soft Trump supporters, the charges do nothing to keep them in his camp. They reinforce the arguments of former Trump Republicans now backing other candidates: He was our guy but in the end he’s all danger and loss.

Actually, when Trump is "accused of being a trickster in business," his base does care -- it makes them admire him more. Remember 2016, when Hillary Clinton pointed out that Trump had paid no federal income tax for several years, and his response was "That makes me smart"? The fans agree with him that the whole world is crooked, deal-making is necessary trickery, and Trump generously and selflessly offers to apply his mastery of this dark art on behalf of America. What a patriot!

And none of them believe he's "an abusive predator of women." They don't believe that sexual violence is the result of violent tendencies -- they assume it's a response to a lack of sexual opportunity, something they know hasn't been Trump's problem. He was surrounded by babes! He has a hot wife! He wouldn't need to do that! That's what they think.

And no, they don't realize "deep down" that Trump endangered America by taking those documents. The myth of Trump is not just that he was a good president -- it's that he was an unusually patriotic president. They've fully accepted the myth that he was a rich guy living a very nice life who chose to sacrifice that life of ease because he loves America. (They can't even conceive of the possibility that he ran for president because of ego.) Of course a selfless patriot like that wouldn't harm America, deliberately or recklessly!

(Sooner or later, a rightwing commentator will proclaim that Trump's retention and display of those documents was actually a very clever ruse to entrap the enemies of America ... somehow. You wait. Someone will make that argument soon.)

Noonan might be right about "soft Trump supporters," but I suspect that what they'll think isn't "in the end he’s all danger and loss" so much as "His enemies hate him so much that we should probably pick someone they won't try so hard to beat." I've run across that sentiment in interviews with Trump supporters. The problem is, for every soft supporter who feels this way, there are a hundred supporters who like him more the more he makes the rest of us angry.

So Noonan's headline -- "The Indictment Can Only Hurt Trump" -- is probably wrong. In all likelihood, the only thing that can hurt Trump (apart from a preelection prison sentence) would be massive voter turnout on behalf of his opponent. Let's get to work on that.