The depressing truth, as it seems to me this afternoon:

1. If Trump becomes the GOP nominee, it will mean chaos and violence. Same as if he becomes president. He generates an atmosphere of thuggishness.

2. If the Social Justice Warriors prevail in shutting down Trump rallies, it will mean chaos and violence. It is chaos and violence. They are thugs, even if they are praised by the media.

3. I want Trump to beat the SJWs at their game. They are making America ungovernable.

4. But it is not sufficient to cheer Trump for opposing these idiots. Whatever my heart says in the moment, my head tells me that I don’t want Trump to win, because I don’t think he has any plan to govern America, and his provocative attitude would help make America ungovernable.

5. I don’t want the Republican Party to beat Trump, because it will mean the same old same old.

6. I don’t want the Democrats to win, because the Court, and because they will empower SJWs even more, and marginalize cultural conservatives even further.

7. There is no way everybody can lose.

8. Whatever happens, the next four years in our country are going to be miserable.

9. We must cultivate our own garden.

I wish I could think my way to a better conclusion, a hopeful conclusion. Every political alternative open to us today seems bad.

Read David Frum for a far more intelligent and thoughtful take on the choice facing Republicans. His conclusion:

Sometimes a political movement must and should go down fighting. Many conservatives will feel that way about opposing Trump in November 2016. The alternative—ticket-splitting between Hillary Clinton at the top and Republicans down-ballot—also carries daunting dangers. But whatever is decided by conservatives who refuse to board the Trump train, that decision is best made without illusions and false hopes. This election closes a long period in American politics. Whatever comes next, that period will not return.