Donald Trump Is a Horrible American, and His Supporters Like That About Him.

To say that liking a candidate who is so obviously abhorrent is counter-intuitive strikes one as ludicrous were it not happening in front of our eyes. Welcome to the collapse of common sense.

Donald Trump has contempt for the law and the truth. My man!

Peter Thiel, a gay billionaire who has had remarkable success in Silicon Valley, is a rare creature, not for being gay or a billionaire but for being a Trump supporter in Silicon Valley. Thiel, who became famous for bankrolling Hulk Hogan's effort to sue Gawker for releasing a Hogan sex tape, did so because he believed, wrongly, that Gawker had outed him. Gawker was destroyed and bankrupted. Thiel for the win!

Now Thiel has just revealed his justification for supporting Donald Trump, and in doing so has become the poster boy for just how convoluted that support can be. You see, Thiel supports him by not taking what Trump says "literally," but by taking him "seriously."

Wow. Dara Lind explains at Vox.com. Here's Thiel's own words on the subject:

I don't support a religious test. I certainly don't support the specific language Trump has used in every instance. But I think one thing that should be distinguished here is that the media is always is taking Trump literally. It never takes him seriously but it always takes him literally. I think a lot of the voters who vote for Trump take Trump seriously but not literally. So when they hear things like the Muslim comment or the wall comment, or things like that, the question is not are you going to build a wall like the Great Wall of China, or how exactly are you going to enforce these tests. What they hear is we're going to have a saner, more sensible immigration policy. We're going to try to figure out how do we strike the right balance between cost and benefits.

As Lind points out, Thiel is complaining that the media is taking Donald Trump literally when he should be taken seriously. That's mind-bending.

Yes, Donald Trump should be taken seriously because he's serious like a heart attack.

Let's take him seriously:

• Newsweek reports that Donald Trump has flaunted the legal system for years by destroying emails that were demanded by court order. Why would supporters like that? Because fuck the courts! Fuck our institutions!
• The New York Times reports that Donald Trump stretched the law "beyond recognition" to avoid paying taxes. His supporters? Fuck taxes!
• Reports keep surfacing of Trump's ties to Russia, including ties to his campaign. Despite Trump's denials, there is substantial evidence that he's done extensive business with at least one Russian bank. Who cares? Putin is a bastard, and Donald Trump will be our bastard!
• Donald Trump stiffs everybody, from small contractors to his own campaign pollster. Trump supporters: Man, I wish I could get away with that!
• Trump says we send our jobs overseas because we make bad trade deals, yet Trump has his own products made overseas -- even his campaign gear -- and regularly hires foreign workers at his hotels. But markets should be free! Show me the money!
• Donald Trump has little to no regard for the truth, and it's been demonstrated time after time.
• Hillary Clinton hasn't committed any crimes. But lock her up! 

In a week, we'll find out just how seriously we need to take Donald Trump. Just saying that gives me the heebie-jeebies.